Millions of Americans have epilepsy. At thirty-four, Holly Eckert joined them. From the day she discovered it, her life became a journey of personal growth. Why was this happening? What should she do? Who was she now that she seized? These were a few of the questions she asked herself in the face of her new reality. Her walk with chronic illness became one of awakening and healing. In it, she learned many lessons in life while confronting the flaws, ignorance and corruption plaguing the American medical industry and sensing, first hand, the resilience of the human mind and body. While tending daily to the chores of chronic illness, she saw - and scoffed at - the paradox between the medical industry's responses and her own experiences. Over time, she realized that illness does play important, positive roles in a human life. Traveling the path where health and disease intertwine, it became clear that sickness can give as much as it takes away. This convinced her that when allowed the time and space to be ill, a person can find true health again, a real life phenomenon rarely discussed by doctors and patients. In SEIZED, Holly tells the story of her journey with illness. That well-told, personal tale provides a lens through which to explore the common experience of searching for health in the United States. Dr. Donna J. Andrews, Director of Research at The Andrews/Reiter Epilepsy Research Program, had this to say about Holly's book. "SEIZED is the unique account of one person's odyssey through the many realms of self-discovery associated with the advent of a seizure disorder. I feel that it may bring both comfort and enlightenment to others who are seeking to understand this ancient malady."
About the Author: Holly grew up in the mountains of Idaho, where she learned to dance from a former ballerina who also lived there. She spent her childhood in a dance studio learning to move. After high school, she took her scholarships and went to The Evergreen State College. There, she combined dance and the social sciences to create her own integrated studies program. Her education prepared her to go to Seattle and pursue her artistic mission of exploring substantive topics through the movement arts. She won awards and praise for her art. Then, at age thirty-four, epilepsy damaged her dancing abilities and sent her on a personal journey. Knowing she could write as well as dance, she decided to tell that story through words not movement.