Anne Bokma

Photo of Anne Bokma by: Lucy Mahoney

SOCIAL

Website: https://www.annebokma.com

Facebook: anne.bokma.1

Twitter: @anne_bokma

Instagram: @annebokma

Anne Bokma is a daughter, sister and mother. Anne’s also an award-winning journalist, writing coach, workshop leader and author. Anne is also the founder of Hamilton’s popular 6-Minute Memoir live storytelling event which has also become a podcast, also called the 6-Minute Memoir.

Growing up in a fundamentalist sect, the Canadian Reform Church, her world view was extremely narrow. There were lots of taboos. Dancing, and Canadian boys were off the table.

When Anne went off to journalism school, she was suddenly exposed to different points of view, religions, and ways of being. At 20 years old she made the painful decision to leave her church, even though she was threatened with ex-communication and burning in hell. She ultimately chose to leave which created a rift between her and her family.

Fast forward, Anne was a mother and wife. Her children were about to leave home and found herself in a mid-life crisis. Her journalistic curiosity and spiritual longing prompted the exploration of a growing movement “Spiritual But Not Religious'“.

She started a blog and began to explore 24 different spiritual practices over the course of a year. From goat yoga and forest bathing to a gratitude practice and hallucinogenics. From there she wrote her memoir, My Year of Living Spiritually: One Woman’s Secular Quest for a More Soulful Life. It’s a wonderful, funny, insightful, and touching book.