Diana Martin

• Used diagnostic tools to identify hardware failures and replace non-functional components.
• Tested and installed motherboards, processors and graphics cards on desktops and laptops for corporate staff.
• HELP HELP! PLEASE HELP! I AM AN ARTIST WORKING AT A MANUFACTURING PLANT.
• I would make a much better Book Coach!

I have worked as a Life Coach for several years, and actually call myself a Navigational Coach. I help people move from Point A to Point B, and then on to Point C, if they so choose. My horrific experience in Austin provided the impetus to become a writer and also a researcher of Trauma.

Most of us have been traumatized, but some experiences are more obvious than others. I have learned to own, name, experience, my traumas and the amazing ability to recover and thrive afterward given the right support and understanding.

This is how I work with people: I get down in the trenches with them and say: "I hear you. I see you. What you say matters. Let's start from the beginning. "

I published my first memoir, A Couch Named Marilyn: My Big Fat Mess Called PTSD, in 2015. Ironically, the setting for this personal story begins in Austin TX, in 2008. I was the target of a criminal who entered my home with a gun and other multiple weapons and attempted to kidnap me. I survived to tell a harrowing tale, and eventually write about the experience and with a mission to describe the aftermath of violent crime, and what the acronym PTSD really means.

The telling of the story served as a nexus for myself, and many others who have experienced sudden shock. It also taught me about the laborious process involved in telling an authentic, heartfelt, vulnerable story.

A Couch Named Marilyn received a positive and constructive Kirkus Review, and was a Finalist in the 2016 Indie Book Awards for Inspirational Non-Fiction.

In 2020, I completed a manuscript, On the Corner of Remarkable And Perspective, on the reality and description of what it is like to be on the receiving end of narcissistic abuse. It also received a Finalist award in the Non-Fiction Relationship Category for the 2021 Indie Book Awards. I have plans to publish it in the near future, after a few more readers have provided comment.

I began a meditation practice in 1994. The teachings I practice are through the Shambhala Lineage of Tibetan Kaagu and Ngingma lineages. The main meditation practice is called Shamatha, which translates into: Calm Abiding.

This practice is a foundational pillar of my everyday existence. It is only now that I have studied Coaching, that I understand what being a meditation instructor taught me. The essence of helping someone else in self-discovery is to leave myself, my opinion, experiences, and agendas out of the conversation. My role is to be a witness and supporter of the others' reality.

It is gratifying now to see what powerful lessons I have learned from keeping myself out of someone else's creative process, and just asking questions with curiosity and wonder.

I believe this is the reason for my success as a coach.

Did you know that the first title used for a Paralegal was Scribe? I find that most interesting because I consider myself a Scribe. My training allows me to write legal documents, manage documents, write technical and procedural manuals, and to be a creative writer.

My college education was all about writing and creating visual art, thus my Bachelors in Fine Arts. I am first, a visionary, and second, a Scribe: the one who makes the effort to write down the important stuff, and then use my gifts of imagination and articulation to make the vision and words come to life for other people to comprehend and digest..