We recently connected with Kimberly Phinney, professor, writer, and founder of The Way Back to Ourselves, and have shared our conversation below.
Kimberly, thanks for joining us. We are excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission: What is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Thank you for having me! I’m honored to be here. I’m Kimberly Phinney, and I am a professor, writer, editor, and counselor, as well as the founder of www.TheWayBack2Ourselves.com, which is a robust community for faithful creatives and leaders.
Born out of personal tragedy and triumph, The Way Back to Ourselves is a passion project that officially launched in August of 2022. Today, it is a beauty from ashes kind of story. And it’s my purpose to help people find the way back to who they were always called to be. Our slogan is “You belong here.” And we really believe that!
Our mission at The Way Back to Ourselves is simple: We are committed to making a community where our members can slow down, take a deep breath, and find the way back to who they were always meant to be. And in that self-discovery, be it spiritual or otherwise, we become better people, parents, leaders, and creatives who impact our homes and communities toward a gentler, healthier, and more beautiful tomorrow. We hope our content points others toward cultivating a quieter, more creative life that is rooted in a creator-God who loves us and reveals himself through the divine beauty evident in our relationships, artistic expressions, natural surroundings, existential quandaries, and diverse experiences.
But before I share any further, I should share about that personal story that changed my life and birthed The Way Back to Ourselves and my most important creative work:
When I was 22, I was told by my doctor that I likely had something called endometriosis and would struggle to have children. At the time, I was young and seemingly invincible. The news bothered me when I heard it, but it felt like a reality I could control with diet, exercise, and modern science. Besides, I had my whole life ahead of me. I was finishing my bachelor’s from the University of South Florida at the top of my class in Secondary English Education, had my own thriving business, and was about to marry my high school sweetheart in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
But I was wrong.
In the several short months after Michael and I got married, my endometriosis started stealing from us. It stole our precious moments and opportunities. It stole my fertility, our unborn children, my youth, my health, my ability to walk… And finally, as if that wasn’t enough, it almost stole my life.
Looking over our shoulders now, there is no doubt we were guided through this dark season by the steady hands of God. And though the pain was so much I could not feel him… And though the fear was so strong I could not see him… He ultimately made himself evident in the faces of the ones we loved the most, as our community of friends, family, colleagues, and church members came around us to help us survive this season in our lives. Their love and courage are selfless acts we will never forget.
I want to be honest. There is still so much sadness here. But there is so much JOY. Somehow, despite my disease, I was able to finally give birth to our daughter in 2017—after 12 years of marriage and just before my aggressive Stage 4 Endometriosis became a grenade in my abdomen. Michael and I say we prayed her into existence—and I think we are right.
In 2020, as the world shut down from Covid, I lost my ability to walk and function for the first time. Over 12 months, it happened again and again, and I was forced to undergo three aggressive surgeries to restore my mobility. And more horrifyingly, my second surgery gave me sepsis and post-surgical complications. I did not regain my ability to walk and function until several months after my third surgery, at which I had been bedridden on end in my own home as my family and I desperately looked for a cancer-GYN specialist in excision and fistulas who would operate on me. That life-saving surgery happened in July of 2021 because my best friend from high school, a nurse practitioner at a major Tampa Bay hospital, pulled strings for me to be seen. It was truly an ACT OF GOD. In the course of one whirlwind week, I was splayed on the surgeon’s table with a one-foot vertical incision through my abdomen. He took the majority of my disease. He took major organs. He took my ability to have more children. But in return, he gave me my life. And I will forever be grateful.
Unfortunately, after many months of rehab and dashed hopes, my health declined again in 2023, and I had to await more major surgery with a specialist to restore my ability to walk–again. That surgery happened in November of 2023, and I was miraculously healed. My disease is in remission, and we finally have hope!
Today, our daughter is a passionate, creative, quirky, tender-hearted seven-year-old. And I am finally WALKING with her and my husband through this life I nearly lost. Yes, I walk with a limp—physically and figuratively. Yes, days are still hard. But in my darkest hours, I found a way to survive. I decided that even though this life is full of suffering, it is STILL WORTH IT. And that love is worth more to me than pain. So, I chose love.
I promised God, laying in my bed—facing down an unknown future—that if he spared me, I would MAKE MY DAYS COUNT. So here I am, humbly laying my life open—in all its tragedy and triumph—so you might find a kernel of hope, inspiration, or faith. For whatever reason, God wasn’t ready to graduate me to Heaven. And it’s my journey to learn why.
Today, The Way Back to Ourselves is a literary journal, podcast, blog, store, and collective of other artists. We hold monthly Zoom community events and poetry hours and offer creativity services, editorial services, graphic design, counseling, and more.
As an English teacher turned English professor, I am now a published poet, writer, and editor. In fact, my debut poetry collection, Of Wings & Dirt, is being published with Wipf and Stock this spring, and I am honored to work with so many creatives and help them make their creative dreams come true.
Kimberly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Sure. Here are some technical details that have prepared me to be where I am today:
My background and awards:
-B.S. in Secondary English Education
-M.Ed. in English
-Studied at Goddard’s MFA in Creative Writing
-Earning my Doctorate in Community Care and Counseling
-Taught AP English, Yearbook, Journalism, Reading, Writing, Photography, Graphic Design for nearly 20 years
-Currently an English professor, writer, editor, etc.
-Won many teaching awards, one at the national level with NSHSS and was on Good Morning America and ABC
-Recently won The Audience Choice Award 2024 in the Bright Wings Poetry Contest with Ekstasis Magazine and Makers and Mystics, as well as runner-up for Fathom Magazine’s Poetry Contest 2023
-You can see all of my publications and media here: https://www.thewayback2ourselves.com/publications
Some personal philosophies:
-Follow God.
-People first.
-Community over competition.
-Offer unwavering support to faithful creatives.
-Practice radical kindness, care, and authenticity.
-Work tirelessly to advocate for mental health and disabilities.
More on me:
I love working with other creatives to help them in all ways: editing, writing, content creation, graphic design, launch parties, support, mental health care, etc. I am a one stop shop. Ever the teacher, I am the happiest when I am helping others.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The story of me fighting for my life and teaching through sepsis and severe endometriosis is at the center of my transformation and why I am doing the work I do today. I lost my ability to walk three times and had to fight back each time. In all of this I launched and built www.TheWayBack2Ourselves.com and started my doctorate to help make the world a more beautiful place and to show God’s love and light to others who might need help and hope.
You can see my story here:
And here:
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Great question! The fact that art allows us to speak into others’ lives in a way that other avenues and transactions do not is a true privilege. Art is a great unifier and edifier. As a faithful creative, it’s also a divine act for me. It is a way of being. It is like breathing. We are created by a Creator-God, so everything that flows from us when it comes to our inclination to create–be it dancing, singing, writing, or painting–is a beautiful thing. It’s what makes us HUMAN. It’s what makes life worth living. And it’s just that much sweeter when we get to share these things in community, which I get to do as a professor, editor, and founder of The Way Back to Ourselves. I love helping other creatives thrive and shine.
Thank you, again, for this opportunity to share about my work and story. I hope it gives others hope, both personally and professionally.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheWayBack2Ourselves.com and www.PhinneyPhotography.com
- Instagram: @thewayback2ourselves
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-phinney-educator/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thewayback2ourselves
- Other: Substack: https://thewayback2ourselves.substack.com/
Image Credits
Kimberly Phinney