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Linda McNabb was gang raped at 13 years old, and spent nearly three decades honing a unique perception of spirituality to help her cope with the trauma.
In the intervening years, she said she went “on the run from her past” with the hope of finding happiness.
McNabb, now 53, worked dozens of jobs, lived in even more cities and suffered through drug abuse and prostitution.
Despite being raised in a traditional Christian household — albeit with an allegedly abusive, drug addict of a father — McNabb didn’t truly begin to find peace or an even-keeled life until she grasped her own sense of alternative spirituality.
In December, she moved to the Chicago area from San Diego to become manager of The Peace Center in Berwyn's Depot District. It’s there that McNabb teaches her version of a life at peace through clarity and spirituality, and begins her crusade to make a world that’s free of childhood sexual abuse and assault.
“I found peace through understanding that I am more than this body. And that I don't need to be defined by what happened to it and that I can rely on that part of me that I know is eternal that is in all of us,” McNabb said. “When I did that, I was able to find that happiness is not a way of life or a place that you get to. It is really who we are. It is our birthright.”
Now, her life as an author and spiritualist revolves around helping others avoid the difficult lifestyle she endured and overcame.
“My book, ‘One Again,’ is helping other people who have been through similar childhood sexual abuse and assault,” McNabb said. “The book is about how I was able to forgive that. If I can truly overcome my suffering and my past, then so can others.”
McNabb came to The Peace Center after she met the center’s directors, including Joe Wolfe, at a seminar in St. Louis. McNabb was already on the center’s radar because of the success of her book within the spiritual community, and Wolfe said her presence has just felt like a natural fit.
“I was drawn to her commitment and dedication and sincerity; things all seemed to come together without any effort,” Wolfe said. “We needed a person of this caliber. We needed someone who was somewhat familiar with organizational skills, (who) was familiar with the kind of people we want to attract.”
Linda McNabb was gang raped at 13 years old, and spent nearly three decades honing a unique perception of spirituality to help her cope with the trauma.
In the intervening years, she said she went “on the run from her past” with the hope of finding happiness.
McNabb, now 53, worked dozens of jobs, lived in even more cities and suffered through drug abuse and prostitution.
Despite being raised in a traditional Christian household — albeit with an allegedly abusive, drug addict of a father — McNabb didn’t truly begin to find peace or an even-keeled life until she grasped her own sense of alternative spirituality.
In December, she moved to the Chicago area from San Diego to become manager of The Peace Center in Berwyn's Depot District. It’s there that McNabb teaches her version of a life at peace through clarity and spirituality, and begins her crusade to make a world that’s free of childhood sexual abuse and assault.
“I found peace through understanding that I am more than this body. And that I don't need to be defined by what happened to it and that I can rely on that part of me that I know is eternal that is in all of us,” McNabb said. “When I did that, I was able to find that happiness is not a way of life or a place that you get to. It is really who we are. It is our birthright.”
Now, her life as an author and spiritualist revolves around helping others avoid the difficult lifestyle she endured and overcame.
“My book, ‘One Again,’ is helping other people who have been through similar childhood sexual abuse and assault,” McNabb said. “The book is about how I was able to forgive that. If I can truly overcome my suffering and my past, then so can others.”
McNabb came to The Peace Center after she met the center’s directors, including Joe Wolfe, at a seminar in St. Louis. McNabb was already on the center’s radar because of the success of her book within the spiritual community, and Wolfe said her presence has just felt like a natural fit.
“I was drawn to her commitment and dedication and sincerity; things all seemed to come together without any effort,” Wolfe said. “We needed a person of this caliber. We needed someone who was somewhat familiar with organizational skills, (who) was familiar with the kind of people we want to attract.”
After San Diego, the Chicago weather came as a cold reminder of McNabb’s troubled youth in Erie, Pennsylvania. She never truly quieted the traumas rattling around her mind until she moved to warmer climates, such as California and Hawaii.
Although being back in an area with four seasons reminds her of her childhood, it also serves as a notion to her victory over the past.
“What I’m noticing about being here and being in the winter again, I’m happy wherever I am,” she said. “I can be happy whether I’m on the beach in sandals or knee-deep in snow. I’m happy because I rely on clarity, and that’s what sustains me.”
That clarity represents more than just triumph over sexual abuse. Her father was a drug addict, she said, while an older brother died from his own drug addiction and a younger brother died in a swimming accident. Those experiences helped McNabb discover her unorthodox view of God.
Now that McNabb has conquered her past and settled into Berwyn, she’s started work as a spiritual teacher in helping others get over their trauma. And she’s already getting rave reviews from participants in her classes.
“I did have some personal issues recently and I found her guidance and advice very useful and very helpful,” said Barret Hedeen, a participant at The Peace Center. “I guess the main message is really just to go into the heart center. She uses the word ‘clarity’ a lot for that, and it’s all about remembering the wholeness within and then using that basically as a way to release any issues you have.”
After decades of bouncing between jobs and towns, McNabb has harnessed her role as teacher and author — but that doesn’t mean she’s done trying to make a difference. Her next major project will be creating a community model to empower children and prevent abuse. She hopes the centerpiece of that project will be a teaching video that can be distributed to cities and towns across the world.
By raising public awareness of childhood sexual abuse and increasing counseling options, the cycle of abuse can be curtailed, she said.
“I never reported that I was sexually abused as a child, and that’s very common for children, and that’s something perpetrators count on,” McNabb said. “There’s so much that could be prevented through education.”
In finding her own inner peace, McNabb discovered that helping others through their difficulties is therapeutic in keeping her own past at bay.
“I saw people all around me who didn’t seem to be happy, but they didn’t seem to be doing anything about it, either,” McNabb said. “From the age of 29, that’s something that was important for me to work on — to be happy within myself and to find a way to contribute within the world.”
