Flying Solo
Through the Turbulences of Self-Awakening
Eveline Kopachkov is a spiritual traveler who has set up signposts along her path in order to help those who might make a similar journey. In Flying Solo, her first book, she outlines the shape of her own life before and after embarking on her spiritual adventure. She offers advice from her own experience and from great spiritual leaders, and says, “We don’t become conscious of our direction unless and until we seek and look for orientation and ask questions!”
Born in France, Kopachkov experienced several traumas before reaching adulthood: depression, abandonment, and then, as a young wife, the culture shock of leaving France for Canada where she had to learn new languages and figure out how to cope in a foreign country. Her two sons grew to be blessings that kept her from dwelling on her own problems. In early middle age, after a successful career as a teacher and as the business manager of a chain of schools, Kopachkov was able to retire, and during that period she turned toward a spiritual view of life. It began through doing volunteer work, then reading the well-known Conversations with God series, and later, meeting a new life partner.
Flying Solo is a piece of the adventure of Kopachkov’s new life. Part memoir, the text is primarily a book of philosophy that falls roughly into the category of New Age. Some of the material is borrowed from other teachers, as Kopachkov quotes liberally from such diverse sources as Ouspensky, Mother Teresa, and Richard Bach. But much of the text is the author’s, arranged in short chapters that develop themes such as “relax and let it go,” and “we have the power.” The themes are not original, and some readers will feel they have read it all before. The key for them will be whether they are attracted to Kopachkov’s effusive writing style, which is peppered with exclamation points and contains occasional lengthy, wandering sentences. As one example, the author states, “The enigmatic meanders of spiritual awakenings are filled with most perfect wonder and can take us from the lows and highs of ego consciousness and human creation, right through to the highs of spiritual connection and being, of bliss, that can otherwise and rightly be called heaven.”
Flying Solo is a book about the spiritual journey written by an enthusiastic guide who has drawn the water of wisdom from many wells. It is well intentioned and, while it might not offer new insight, it may present old ideas in a style that will be welcomed by some of Kopachkov’s fellow travelers on the path.
Reviewed by
Barbara Bamberger Scott
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
