Bird's Eye View: A Tapestry of Maya Mythology, Motherhood, and Making Life Anew

When Jan moves to Guatemala with her young daughter to run a medical clinic on the heels of her divorce, she knows the experience will be difficult and life-changing. But she doesn't anticipate all the ways she will change.To make sense of her professional, personal, and parenting turmoil in a country with plenty of its own turmoil, Jan finds herself adopting a Maya worldview that weaves together concepts of duality (there can be no light without dark, no joy without pain), harmony with nature, and the importance of connecting to the past to understand one's present self.Awash with elements of Maya mythology, history, and culture and innumerable revelations of the compassion, intelligence, and resilience of the Guatemalan people, Bird's-Eye View is a coming-of-middle-age story that shows how viewing life through the prism of a different set of myths can help an individual understand the familiar tales they have unwittingly followed. Key words: Maya, Tz'utujil, Lake Atitlan, Antigua, Peten, Guatemala, Popol Vuh,  Ixmuchane,  Ixquik, Chiutinamit, memoir, mothers, families, mythology, Methodist. global health, public health Read more