One night, at the age of 30, I woke drenched in sweat and crying hysterically. My heart was pounding, and I started to shake uncontrollably. I couldn’t catch my breath. I was working at high-tech. My husband and I had just purchased our first home, and we had an eight-month-old baby. I had everything I wanted, yet something felt terribly wrong.
I couldn’t stop shaking. My trembling woke my husband, too. He tried to understand what was happening and tried to calm me down. Then, my infant daughter started to cry. I was having a panic attack. Slowly, I became aware of my surroundings. My trembling was scaring the baby. I tried to stop but could not. Slowly, my panic attack started to slow down with my breathing, and were replaced by a chest pain and a sense of impending doom. I laid motionless, unable to move. I recall glancing at my daughter and that split second made me think how I might not be around to see her become a young girl. I imagined that I might die, and that she might not even picture me in her head, and I was overcome by sadness.
When my panic attack went away, I realized life could be short or long. No one knew. That experience was so intense that I knew I wanted to create something behind for my child that would capture the essence of what I hoped to share with her. This is how the book “A Bunny Named May” was born.
The story is about a bunny who sets out to do something quite brave that no bunny has ever done before. May’s mom has three life lessons to help May achieve her goals and live a happy and meaningful life. If one day I were not around to tell it to my own daughter, this story would be a way for my daughter to learn the importance of going after her dreams.
Today, thankfully, I am still alive and my daughter, Selin, is 7 years old. She has grown to be a kind, courageous, and passionate girl. One summer morning, she came to me with a notebook in her hand and said “Mom, I found the book you wrote that tells a story about you and me. I grew up with the inspiring lessons in this book. Let’s help others find the courage to pursue their dreams too. I will help – let me draw pictures of the story you wrote.”
When I did not have the courage to publish the book, she gave me the push I needed to move forward. Selin and I decided to publish and share our story with the world. “A Bunny Named May” gives the following message: “If a bunny can pursue her dreams, and a 7-year-old child can draw pictures for a book; you too you can do anything you set your mind to.”
“Believe in yourself!
Pursue your dreams!
You have what it takes!”
This is a story about perseverance, friendship, and humility.
We want to empower girls (spoiler: bunny does the unthinkable, makes friends and has humility) to pursue their dreams so they can live in an equal world. We also want to empower boys, all genders, adults, everyone all over the world, because human empowerment and reaching potential are neither gender-specific nor local goals. They are universal human goals. They belong to all of us, to all genders, all over the world.
To bring “A Bunny Named May” to life in a beautiful hardcover format, we have launched our Indiegogo campaign and you can order books until June 28th. Backers from all over the world, including US, France, India, Japan, Hong Kong, Turkey and many others have backed us. To see our story, book trailer and pre-order your copy, visit us at www.igg.me/at/ABunnyNamedMay
“A Bunny Named May” wants to be the inspiration you needed and says “Go ahead! Pursue your dreams.” Now the question is: “Will you?”