Overcoming her lifelong struggle with weight and depression in the wake of her husband’s and father’s deaths, Ellie Bassick-Trovato, now an inspirational speaker and author, has learned that when you choose your lens, you choose your life.
From the outside looking in, you would think that Ellie had had it all growing up: private school education, beautiful home in the hills of New Hampshire, trips abroad, a large and loving family. But something was missing. The weight of low self-esteem and ensuing depression (leading to thoughts of suicide) pressed down for years. Her confidence would begin to build, and she would strike out on some new adventure (like moving to Oregon, starting a new dream career (eight times!)), or some exhilarating new romance, but the walls would eventually crumble again, leaving her picking up the pieces in the rubble. There was an aching void in her that would not be filled – in spite of the food she stuffed in.
She experienced a sea change when she fell in love with John Trovato, the principal in a school where she was a teacher. Depression still dogged at her heels, but she began to feel like she could outrun it. A year and a half after they married, their son Ben was born, and life looked promising indeed. But ten months later, their lives were dramatically altered when John was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Ellie and John were driven to find meaning, and when they discovered the book Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch, their perspectives on their challenges changed. They released the endless and exhausting dance of worry and fear-based “what-if’s” and chose instead to look through the lens of love in its many radiant forms – hope, faith, joy, possibility, and determination. And they learned the importance of faith – of believing something with their hearts they couldn’t know with their minds – that, no matter what the physical outcome, all would be well.
John passed away after a valiant battle, two months after Ellie’s beloved father, and leaving her with a one and half year old to care for alone.
It was in letting go of the two men she loved best that Ellie learned the depths of her strength. Life called on her A game, and suddenly there was no room for anything but. The two most devastating events of her life taught her that nothing can devastate her. She evolved from a woman struggling with depression to a woman with the courage to move mountains. From those dark hours, she emerged with an unshakeable belief that something bigger than us is in charge, and her new relationship with that higher power enfolded her in a warm blanket of peace.
Her depression now at bay, there was still a missing element. She had learned to embrace love for the people and events around her but had not yet turned the lens of love inside of herself. She began to beat herself up with the law of attraction, denying her “negative” emotions because she was supposed to feel positive all the time. The shift came when she realized that she was still, on this level, choosing fear over love…fear of feeling the “wrong” emotions, of creating “negative” vibrations. She was denying and repressing pieces of herself by stifling her uncomfortable emotions with food and drama…and she was draining her power by putting other people’s opinions and happiness ahead of her own. In so doing, she was unwittingly creating a void that negative thoughts, emotions and beliefs would happily swish into. And, she was hiding, literally in a body covered with weight, and figuratively from a world that needed her light.
Through intensive workshops and arduous self-evaluation, she eventually learned the antidote to this void — honoring all the parts of herself and making a conscious choice to build her power everyday. She came to appreciate and embrace all her emotions – even anger, jealousy, loneliness, and sadness — and learned that only by inviting them in to tell her what they had to say could she then move through them and let them go. With unflinching determination, she peeled back the layers of other people’s expectations for what she should and shouldn’t do or be. She learned to build her power in small and big ways everyday by making conscious choices about who and what she would spend her time and energy on. She learned to fill herself with her Self, with her own beliefs, values, and her own compelling vision so there was no room for other energies to move in. Finally, she could write her own script and choose love on every level.
Learning to choose the lens of love and to release fear shifted Ellie’s life experiences. She overcame the challenges of weight, depression, and grieving the loss of her husband and father. She learned to run a business by the seat of her pants, fueled by passion and intention (and many gifts from the Universe in the form of serendipitous events). She learned how to find flow with the Universe and let it work its magic (as it has, again and again, as her life continues to unfold). She fully embraced her learning that life is only and exactly what she makes of it.
Ellie is a natural expert in speaking, teaching, coaching, and connecting. She delivers keynote addresses, leads life-changing workshops, and works one-on-one as a catalyst for helping people ignite and unleash their promise and potential to a ready world. Through her speeches, seminars and writing, she has inspired thousands of people to live their lives full on. Her wisdom and warmth enable her to connect with people from all walks of life, and she is a gifted and open-minded teacher with an uncanny ability to seek, understand and appreciate different perspectives. She is a catalyst for helping women break free from living small and break into vibrant lives of promise and joy.
Ellie is a co-author in two inspirational books: A Juicy, Joyful Life: Inspiration from Women Who Have Found the Sweetness in Every Day and The Wisdom of Mid-Life, both compiled by Linda Joy and published by Inspired Living Publishing.
Ellie has been featured on Channel 5, WCVB Boston, WBET 1460 AM, and on several shows on WATD 95.9 FM. She and her wellness center, Uplifting Connections, have also been featured in several regional newspapers.
A partial list of Ellie’s inspired clients includes Bridgewater State College’s AFSCME Union, Lincoln Technical Institute, First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Brockton Nurse’s Association, Love, Light and Laughter: An Enchanted Event for Women, and the Bridgewater Rotary Club.
