Surprised by SELF tells a story of a somewhat ordinary life lived with extraordinary passion and self-direction. Rosalie's story is somewhat ordinary in that it is the story of an "upper-middle-class white woman who refuses to settle for the post-WWII idealized notion of domestic bliss. What makes it remarkable is the mindfulness with which she embraces her choices for her own empowerment. Not satisfied merely with escaping the external controls over her freedom, she sets herself the life-long task of "escaping the mind cages" that limit her internal experiences of autonomy. Reading her story of life becomes a great quest and along the road, we collect nuggets of wisdom reminding us of the "importance of being true to our real selves" while growing into a "greater trust in the change process." Many truths surface on this journey but particularly wrenching is her observation: "living to please others was a form of violence against myself." Having lived through momentous cultural movements of the late 20th century that identified some crucial legal, institutional and social forms of oppression. Rosalie's reflections point us to a prospective task for the present generation: freeing ourselves from the mental traps that bind us from living our own lives with creative energy and zest.