“Around day 40 or so, I decided that I was being presented with a unique opportunity. I had lost my mom a year before the kidnapping happened and... I was very much still in the throes of grief. I was thinking about taking some time off and in my head I pictured myself in an ashram in India crying it out for a month. I woke up one morning and realization hit me—this was my ashram. I got organized and I made a work plan in my head. I was like, okay today I’m going to think about everything that ever happened to me from the earliest memory I have… even if it hurts. And I went through the physical activity of digging holes with a stick and burying grudges in the ground… maybe I was losing my mind, I don’t know. But it all felt very significant.”
In this week’s all-new episode of THE IDEALISTS., host and entrepreneur, Melissa Kiguwa speaks to Jessica Buchanan, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and Her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six.
The book details how Jessica was kidnapped at gunpoint on October 25, 2011, while she was on a normal field assignment in Somalia as a humanitarian aid worker, and held for 93 days by a group of Somali land pirates who demanded $45M ransom. On former President Barack Obama's orders, Jessica was freed by the same elite Navy SEAL Team that tracked down and killed Osama Bin Laden.
Jessica’s story is deeply touching, and her reflections on resilience are awe-inspiring.
Highlights:
Jessica starts the conversation by describing why resilience is a choice. She delves into the alternatives of coping with adversity— either meeting oneself “in the proverbial desert” or cycling through self-destructive patterns.
Jessica then shares what brought her to Somalia and her work with armed violence reduction.
Jessica recounts the story of her kidnapping and the deep, powerful insights she gleaned during her time in captivity.
Lastly, Jessica discusses her audacious vision for the world— that we all recognize the opportunities life provides so we can better connect with ourselves and each other.