SALT IN HER LUNGS by GLENDA LEE GOCE MACATANGAY

 JEANNIE E. CELESTIAL Reviews

 

Salt in Her Lungs: A Memoir of Trauma, Healing, and the Wisdom of the Waters by Glenda Lee Goce Macatangay

(Eulalia Press, 2026)

 

BOOK LINK 

 

We are living in a time when healing is not only possible, it is imperative. Glenda's voice is brilliant and powerful and one of many that are thoughtfully and bravely proclaiming their testimony of healing. This memoir, inspired by Glenda’s many angels and Divine Source, is a reflection of the deep relationships she has fostered with herself and others and her life's work toward justice and collective wholeness. 

 

This memoir takes us on a journey of Glenda’s youth, surrounded by cousins and relatives–a vibrant ecosystem of collectivity and creativity. She also reveals a hidden burden of child abuse and the silent, invisible torture of holding secrets as a sacrifice for family harmony. As a reader and a survivor of abuse myself, I was riveted. Page by page, I was drawn into Glenda’s story, which felt like an invitation into her personal journals through young adulthood: family upbringing, romantic relationships, motherhood, divorce, and rediscovery. Glenda recounts how she inherited spiritual powers from her maternal lineage and learns to steward them over time. Glenda shows us how behaviors, such as masking her suffering with performance and achievement, helped her survive and how facing the pain and healing it with vulnerability and truth-telling helped her transform her past into authenticity. Read it and be part of a movement of change.

 

Poignant quotes from Salt in Her Lungs: 

 

“In the hustle of life, individuals often lose touch with self-love, caught up in the whirlwind of societal pressures to compete, conform, and please others. This constant striving creates a disconnect from one’s true essence. But in stillness, there’s a chance for genuine conversation with Spirit, leading to a deeper understanding of one’s core desires and

a clearer path forward.” (p. 172) 

 

“I felt a sense of responsibility to break the cycle of silence. My profession as a therapist was intrinsically linked to addressing the pain caused by unspoken words and suppressed emotions. The innocence I saw in my children taught me valuable lessons. In all its complexities, my journey was necessary for cultivating my power. Once I finally became more vulnerable and intentionally slow, it was as if the ancestors said, ‘Now you’re going to become who you’ve always been: who you were before you existed in this lifetime and before the trauma. You had a job to do, and now you’re able to do it.’” (p. 219)

 

“As my understanding of myself deepened, I saw my role not just as a conduit for change in the physical world, but as a healer of the deeper, often unseen wounds of the soul. My life, marked by pain and triumph, became a soft landing place for hope for others who had suffered similarly. My story inspired many to seek their own paths of healing and understanding. I had learned that true power lies in vulnerability, in the courage to face one’s own darkness, and in the strength to help others do the same.” (p. 220-221)

 

 

*****

 

Jeannie E. Celestial is a psychologist and author in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a co-author of The Filipino Instant Pot Cookbook and Clinical Interventions for Internalized Oppression. Jeannie has a forthcoming children’s book, Tata Efren’s Forever Laughter with Eileen R. Tabios, illustrated by Mel Vera Cruz, launching in 2026 (PAWA, Inc.). Connect at drcelestial.com.