Love Life. Live Large. Fly Free.™

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I want to step up to share a bit of my journey from darkness to lightness. 

My journey, from the depths of darkness to the light of triumph, is one I share with a humble heart and a spirit of gratitude. For decades, I carried a secret, a heavy burden of childhood trauma. The scars of repeated childhood sexual abuse shaped my life in ways I didn't fully grasp until I was 60. Sixty years old! 

In 2025, I turned 65. And so, for anyone reading these words, know this: my story isn't about defeat. It's about resilience, the pursuit of justice, and the transformative power of healing.

I grew up in Truro, a small Nova Scotia town, in a lower-middle-class neighbourhood. When I was just nine years old, I suffered repeated sexual abuse at the hands of one of my Cub Leaders. After six long months, I finally confided in my father. He drove at once to the church where we held our weekly Cub Pack meetings and reported the abuse to my Cubmaster.

Yes, it happened in a house of God. I attended Sunday School faithfully, even reading scriptures from the pulpit on special occasions. But instead of justice, there was a cover-up. The perpetrator was simply removed from his position, and nine-year-old Kev was told to never speak of it again.

The struggles I faced throughout my life were profound, but their root cause remained hidden until 2022. That's when everything clicked into place. The long-term effects of the trauma, the toxic shame that clung to me like a dark shadow—those were the missing pieces.

Even with this unseen burden, I built a successful career. I became a senior leader in business and academia, a research scientist, a university professor, an agricultural engineer, an agrologist, and a business consultant. My ground-breaking research earned international recognition, and in 2005, I received the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. My CV? Thirty-six pages long! Yet, beneath the surface of my professional achievements, the insidious unresolved trauma was quietly eroding my mental health and affecting my personal life.

In April 2011, I became suicidal and was hospitalized. The diagnosis: Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD-DS. Even after my discharge, the severity of my depression and PTSD, masked with a handful of medications, forced me into long-term disability, bringing my career to an end.

With the support of a psychiatrist and a psychologist, I embarked on a challenging healing journey. I was determined to get better! I worked hard, but the therapy I received over the next seven years, coupled with a deteriorating marriage and other difficult life events, only brought moderate improvement. And since 2011, I've been chasing after renewed health and wellness, using a combination of medications and alternative modalities.

My turning point came in 2018. I decided to seek specialized Childhood Sexual Assault Counselling. In February of that year, I finally began to confront my horrific abuse head-on. I was 57 years old.

I realized I had buried the memories of the abuse.  In May, during a pivotal therapy session, I discovered a part of myself, nine-year-old Kev, locked away in a jail cell deep within me. He was huddled in a corner, guarding a cold stone that held the last spark of my essence, terrified it would be extinguished. And unbelievably, the cell door wasn't even locked.

Self-awareness bloomed within me like a blue Lotus flower. During the following month, my desire to help others fueled me to take a path I can only describe as "courageous action." Even though my counsellor warned me that this path might be treacherous, on June 26, 2018, I literally made a life-or-death decision to report my abuse to the Truro Police Service. I had become aware of information that gave me a gut-gnawing suspicion that my abuser might still be harming children. After consulting with a lawyer, I knew that the only way to ensure he would never hurt another child was to take him to court.

The police investigation led to Arthur Chesnut's arrest, criminal charges, trial, and conviction. I quickly learned how the justice system worked and used my credible voice to ride shot gun with the amazing crown prosecutor every step of the process. On November 20, 2019, he was sentenced to jail for sexually abusing myself and five other young children over a span of 46 years. Forty-six years! I had no idea. And apparently, neither did anyone else!

After that I also worked tirelessly to have Chesnut striped of all his awards for Volunteer Firefighter Service. Those, believe it or not, included three Governor General of Canada’s Exemplary Fire Service Medals spanning three decades.

I continued with counselling every week, then every two weeks, then monthly even on days when I felt I couldn't face it. One day, the emotional pain I was experiencing caused me to roar like a lion. It startled my counsellor, but she later told me that at that moment, she knew I would conquer my trauma. And I did. I fully reclaimed my identity. December 2022 marked the end of my trauma journey that had spanned decades—a journey of confrontation, justice, and ultimately, healing.

That December, I made another important decision. I would dedicate myself to guiding others around the world. Using a blend of science, spirituality, and my own lived experience, I would help them find the courage and awareness to live healthy, fulfilling lives, achieving dreams they haven't yet dared to feel. And in doing so, I will also live my own dreams.

I hope that by sharing my story, I can emphasize the importance of seeking help and the possibility of healing, even after the deepest trauma.

Oh, and one last thing. I believe that with the right support and unwavering determination, anyone, at any age, can overcome the dark shadows of their past to create a life filled with purpose and light to sustain them. It's never too late or too soon to begin...there's only when you decide to do that now!

Namaste!

Kevin