Magnificent Obesity: My Search for Wellness, Voice and Meaning in the Second Half of Life
Martha M. Moravec, 2014
Hatherleigh Press / Random House
239 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781578265053
Summary
Lose weight, calm down, find God.
Priorities fall quickly into place for a 55-year-old compulsive overeater with a panic disorder when a mild heart attack accelerates her midlife crisis into a furious race to close the gap between where she appears to be going in life and the very different place she wants to be.
Hindered by numerous, longstanding obstacles to wellness and wholeness—from an obsessive fear of death to a two-pack-a-day smoking habit—writer Martha Moravec turns crisis into opportunity, loss into insight and the pain of her past into a means for growing up in time to grow old with grace.
A diabetic weighing in at 324 pounds, Martha pulls together a support team of doctors, therapists and priests, helpers, healers and friends from the grid of small town life in southern Vermont. The patience and dedication of the people she calls "the angels we can see" prove that it takes a village to make a self-actualized adult as she addresses childhood developmental trauma, panic attacks and phobias, addictive behaviors and debilitating symptoms in an often painful but always illuminating fight toward recovery, reinvention and rebirth.
Magnificent Obesity depicts one woman’s effort to look honestly and compassionately at her obesity through a kaleidoscopic lens of anxiety disorder, addictive behavior, agnosticism and the onset of aging. Her conviction that it’s never too late to grow up, that it is possible to feel born again at any age and that there is no expiration date on dreams will inspire anyone who yearns to rewrite their story and take their own magnificent leap into a life lived with passion, purpose and authentic power. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—June 11 1952
• Raised—New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Smith College
• Currently—lives in Brattleboro, Vermont
Martha is also the author of two novels: an epic historical fantasy, The Secret Name of God; and a sci-fi fantasy for young adults, The Odd Body Vanity Squad. Before committing to prose, she wrote the book and lyrics for five original full-length musicals, all of which were successfully produced in southern Vermont and Boston.
She blogs at "Mad Genius Bohemians" about the mysteries of the creative life and the legacy of family. She also blogs at "Growing Up in Time to Grow Old with Grace" about the hazards posed by anxiety, addiction, aging and agnosticism to personal growth and transformation. She can usually be found at home in Vermont working on her next seven novels, four novellas, second memoir and a revision of the five musicals. (From the publisher.)
Visit the author's webpage.
Follow Martha on Facebook.
Discussion Questions
1. What was your first impression of the title Magnificent Obesity? What sort of book did it suggest to you? Did you find the use of the word obesity uncomfortable or off-putting? What is your impression of the title now? (Return to this question when done.)
2. Anxiety has been described as an existential fear of self, of who we are and how we feel as human beings. Have you experienced anxiety as this fear of self?
3. Discuss and share your own anxiety attacks, panic attacks and phobias. Did you ever wonder if they were trying to protect you and if so, from what? How much of your anxiety would you attribute to nature and how much to nurBture? What methods do you find most effective in managing your stress?
4. Much has been made of the distinction between being religious and being spiritual. What does the distinction mean to you?
5. How do your spiritual beliefs shape your life, from living day-to-day to experiencing overall purpose and meaning?
6. What does Martha mean when she says she is fighting for her soul?
7. How does Martha’s fear of abandonment contribute to her addictions?
8. If you feel comfortable doing so, discuss your own addictions, past and present. How have they affected your ability to achieve your goals or to be the person you want to be?
9. Discuss our culture’s war on obesity, its unrealistic ideals of beauty and its interference with the development of one’s body image. Discuss how one’s body image effects self-esteem, behaviors and performance in life.
10. What does Alec mean when he tells Martha, "The food is your way of keeping God out?"
11. Do you agree with Martha that the only way to truly heal and become whole is to grieve, to fully experience the pain of one’s past and that the best way out is through?
12. How has Martha’s obsessive fear of death shaped her life?
13.The book’s key relationship is that between Martha and her mother. How does it resemble your relationship with your mother/parent; how does it differ? How do these relationships change over time?
14. Do you consider the baptism a fitting way for Martha to celebrate her sixtieth birthday?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)