Local author releases memoir on ‘spiritual journey’ and ‘healing’

From her childhood in Japan to her arrival in America, to the tragic and sudden death of her husband, Kyomi O’Connor’s memoir “A Sky of Infinite Blue” covers her journey through emotional abuse, trauma and the marriage that helped change her life.

“My book is about my spiritual journey, healing and spiritual growth, and the love story of my life,” said O’Connor, a member of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association who also posts essays and poetry to her Medium account.

O’Connor will host a book signing and discussion about her memoir at the Diesel bookstore at the Del Mar Highlands Town Center in Carmel Valley on Sept. 10 from 3 p.m.- 4 p.m.

“A Sky of Infinite Blue” will be released on Sept. 6.

(Cover design by Julie Metz/metzdesign.com
front cover photo © PlainPicture)

She added that she wants to instill in readers a feeling of “I want to do something, something for change.”

From being a victim of bullying from a young age to an unhappy first marriage, O’Connor said she struggled through emotional trauma early in life.

In 1990, after her first marriage ended, she arrived in the United States to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

She wasn’t looking for love again but then she met Patrick O’Connor, the third child of parents who were Irish immigrants. For her, it was “love at first sight, and he became my oasis.” She said Patrick also told her about a dream he had before they met that foretold their union.

“We built our life more fruitful and more spiritual,” O’Connor said.

In 1993, the two married.

“With his abundant, unconditional love I got healed,” O’Connor said. “Not totally, but I became more confident, resilient and tenacious, so I started looking at life a little differently.”

Patrick, who became an executive at a pharmaceutical company, experienced a severe headache in 2013. He was eventually diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and died in 2016.

O’Connor said she was “totally crushed into pieces.”

“After a while I decided to write,” added O’Connor, who used the Buddhist teachings that she and Patrick practiced to help her cope. “In Japan, whenever it was difficult, I always took the pen and paper and wrote.”

As she wrote, she got the idea for a book that could help others overcome the pain and struggles in their lives.

“I didn’t mean to write a book originally, but it became a book,” O’Connor said.

“A Sky of Infinite Blue: A Japanese Immigrant’s Search for Home and Self” will be released Sept. 6. (She Writes Press, 2022; 300 pages)

For more information, on the Sept. 10 event, visit dieselbookstore.com/del-mar. Address: Diesel, Del Mar Highlands Town Center, 12843 El Camino Real, Suite No.104, Del Mar.