One Loop at a Time, a story of rug hooking, healing and creativity
a story of reinvention through creativity following a life-altering illness

One Loop at a Time documents the seven healing mats that I designed and hooked as a way of holding space for myself and processing my experience of healing. The book is filled with practical, powerful tips for readers to begin their own creative, healing journey.
Following a diagnosis of breast cancer, I reinvented myself. I turned my wake-up call into wellness through journaling and rug hooking. With each stage of my recovery, I gained increased awareness of myself. I developed a unique design method, along with a new way of thinking, and a new way of being. I discovered that creativity could be a way of looking inside to discover the next steps in life.
Explaining the meaning behind each rug, I take you on a journey, showing how tapping into my creativity and Chakra colour theory led me to heal and find my authentic self.
“Meryl, I have just finished reading your wonderful book, this is the most thoughtful and clearly written book on spiritual healing that I have read. It is a Blessing from heart to heart."
"I adored everything about this beautifully written, encouraging, calming book! I am a rug hooker which is why I ordered it originally, but to my surprise, it offered so much more! It fed my soul!"



One Loop at a Time, the creativity workbook
unblock your creativity with journaling and sketching
My second book will give you simple, practical tools to begin to move forward and engage your creativity through writing and sketching. The Creativity Workbook is filled with writing and sketching prompts, delicious, close-up photos of my healing mats, and the original sketches from my journal of each mat.
Warning: it will inspire you and leave you wanting more! Put on the kettle and start your creative journey now.

"This creativity workbook will inspire readers, doodlers and wannabe writers to capture everything from ideas, joys, and fears to moments of gratitude and perplexing questions. Simple prompts and exercises are designed to move one from ‘stuck’ to ‘flowing freely’, from ‘pain’ to ‘possibility’, and from ‘fear’ to ‘curiosity’, all of which help one better understand what nourishes one’s soul. Meryl Cook knows deeply, from her own experience, that writing and drawing are healing activities and she generously shares her process and invites others to take a similar journey."
more books
contributing author to these books
Journaling and the Reinvention of the Self One Loop at a Time chapter in Transformational Journaling for Coaches, Therapists, and Clients: A Complete Guide to the Benefits of Personal Writing 1st Edition, Edited by Lynda Monk, Eric Maisel, Routledge, June 29, 2021.
Journaling and Design Inspiration chapter in The Great Book of Journaling, Edited by Lynda Monk, Eric Maisel, Mango Publishing, January/February 2022.