Published in 2025
336 pages
10 hours and 47 minutes
Jennifer Pastiloff trots the globe as a public speaker and to host her retreats to Italy, as well as her one-of-a-kind workshops, which she has taught to thousands of people all over the world. The author of the popular Substack, also called Proof of Life, she teaches writing and creativity classes called Allow, and workshops called Shame Loss, when she isn’t painting and selling her art. She has been featured on Good Morning America, and Katie Couric, and in New York magazine, People, Shape, Health magazine, and other media outlets for her authenticity and unique voice. She is deaf, reads lips, and mishears almost everything, but what she hears is usually funnier (at least she thinks so). The author of the national bestseller On Being Human, Pastiloff lives in Southern California with her son, Charlie Mel.
What is this book about?
An urgent rallying cry to stop holding back and start living life on your terms.
Jen Pastiloff convinced herself My life is fine and fine’s enough, until the whisper that something was missing turned full-on scream.
This is Pastiloff’s account of how she reclaimed her voice and desire by radically changing her life. She did this despite believing that change equaled death ever since her beloved father died when she was eight. (Much to her shock, change did not equal death.) She shows us it is never too late to begin again, or to let go of stories like: I don’t deserve this; I don’t get to be happy; no one will love me; I’m too old, to name a few.
Through this book, you’ll quiet your Inner Asshole, participate in the cathartic process of Shame Loss, ignore the Imaginary Time Gods, use creativity as a portal into healing and connection, and become your own permission slip. Complete with takeaways in Jen’s signature style, creativity prompts, and poetry, Proof of Life is funny, inspiring, and full of love. This book is a reminder that your birthright is not stress or shame and that you don’t have to show proof that you are worthy or deserving. You are your own proof of life.
