Writing by Alison Weihe: Stories of Identity & Belonging
Transformation | Lived Experiences | Soul’s journey
Alison writes from the heart about transformation, her lived experiences and her soul’s journey. She describes her journey to wholeness as being a long night of the soul, a long walk to freedom that has taught her some profound lessons.
The older Alison becomes and the more thought leaders she is surrounded by, the less she feels she knows, but the more she knows about herself. She is an enthusiastic and constant student of growth. As the great leadership coach John C Maxwell says, ‘Growth precedes greatness’.
Alison contributed to Ignite Your Female Leadership in the best-selling Ignite Series, published in Canada.
This year she has achieved her long-standing goal to have her own story published. Her book, Belonging – Finding Tribes of Meaning, published in South Africa, will be launched on 20 August 2024. Proceeds from the book will go towards building The Mindset Institute, a vehicle for empowering the voices of young entrepreneurs in South Africa.
I wanted to change the world but I had no influence, no power of persuasion. I battled depression, yo-yo dieting, complexity and eating disorders to re-emerge as an Ambassador for Health and Integrated living, and as an Ambassador for Influence and Persuasion.
Excerpt from Belonging – Finding Tribes of Meaning by Alison Jessica Weihe
Through sharing her story in her writing, Alison inspires her readers to live their best lives; to leave a legacy that their voices and their actions mattered.
BELONGING
Finding Tribes Of Meaning
Belonging is about coming home to love, acceptance and inspiration.
This deeply personal account of a journey of self-discovery and personal growth tells of the emotional and physical transformation of a sensitive child who never felt ‘enough’.
Interesting parallels are made between Alison’s challenging journey, and the turbulent journey of South Africa to democracy. We also meet the people who have shaped and continue to shape her growth.
This beautifully written book aims to inspire you to become all that you can be.
Purchase Belonging Today
- Nikki Bush | Human Potential expert | award-winning speaker | five times best-selling author including Future-proof Yourself: How to win at work and life
“Undoing the knot of ‘nots’ is an invitation we all receive in our lives, but few are brave enough to accept it. Looking deep into your soul requires examining the stories and scripts that have shaped and run your life to this point. Then, you have to decide what to keep and what to let go of. As a human potential expert, and having walked my own journey with personal disruption, I know that the process of releasing layers of trauma and lifelong conditioning to discover your true self, requires hard work and courage. It’s often easier to remain a victim trapped in the collateral damage, than search for the collateral beauty in the ashes.
In Belonging: Finding Tribes of Meaning, Alison Jessica Weihe bares her soul and invites the reader to witness her process of undoing the knot of ‘nots’. This vulnerable account of her struggle and her journey will strike a chord in every reader because we are all on this journey, whether we are conscious of it, or not.
As a fellow speaker, mentor and friend, I have watched Alison emerge from the writing process like a butterfly from a chrysalis. As she kept learning and discovering, she kept going deeper and deeper still. She has woven her life’s journey, the highs and lows, and all of her experiences, into a fascinating tapestry that is this book. Alison’s search for belonging and self-acceptance is both raw and real. It mirrors the South African struggle out of apartheid and her contribution to that process. Marriage and motherhood blended with the challenges of entrepreneurship. Partnering with her husband Friedel, they built an award-winning company from nothing, facing many sceptical onlookers. That journey too, held some surprises for which they were both unprepared, but they came through the fire of depression and betrayal stronger than before.
If there is one thing that this book demonstrates, it is that life does not unfold in a straight line for anyone. How you respond will determine how you rise again when the chips are down. Once Alison stepped into a global personal development journey around the age of sixty, there was no turning back. She kept digging and delayering, undoing the knot of ‘nots’, healing her wounds and working on her self-esteem and self-confidence. She realized that everyone has a story, no one has life totally figured out, but everything is ‘figureoutable’, if you are curious enough.
Her relationships with her parents, her husband and her children, provide insight into real life and just how messy and beautiful it can be. Her story encompasses love, hurt, judgement, forgiveness, fear, curiosity, growth and acceptance. It celebrates the duality and paradox of being human and the discovery of what she calls Identity Intelligence, which has become the core of the personal transformation work that she does with individuals and companies today.
This is a story of a woman who chose to step out of the shadows of shyness and insecurity, and into the light. In fact, she now stands in the spotlight on the stage, encouraging audiences with facets of her story as an entrepreneur, or how she took on the task of undoing the knot of ‘nots’ that were keeping her trapped in smallness.
Alison’s presence is vital and infectious. She lives life to the full and changes the lives of others as she shows up as the biggest and best version of herself today, acknowledging what it took to get to this place. She is an inspiration to many. As her light continues to shine more brightly, she is often fondly referred to as Mama Gold. Alison is a generous, kind, loving, brave, authentic and strongly intuitive woman who operates from a place of spirit, forgiveness and Identity Intelligence. You will learn so much about being human and showing up as your best self by reading this book.
Alison’s sharing of her search for identity, self-love and belonging is just the encouragement you need to embark on this journey for yourself too.
You do not have to wait sixty years to own your story.”