Genre: self-help
Publisher: Bear Paw Press
Release date: August 2025
Content Rating: G: This book has no cursing, kissing, etc.
Book Description:
Feeling wired, tired, and stretched too thin? You’re not alone—and you’re not broken.
In Wonder and Joy for the Wired and Tired, Dr. Pam Stephens Lehenbauer, a respected researcher, epidemiologist, clinician, and thought leader on joy, wonder, and well-being, offers a compassionate and eye-opening look at why so many people feel chronically stressed, fatigued, and disconnected. She also reveals why the traditional wellness model, first conceived decades ago, is no longer serving us.
Part science-backed reflection, part celebration of the world’s awe-inspiring details, this book blends thought-provoking commentary with bite-sized facts and trivia designed to reignite our sense of childlike wonder. From the mysteries of the cosmos to the miracles of the human body and so much in between, each chapter encourages readers to pause, reflect, and reconnect—with nature, with curiosity, and with what truly matters.
This isn’t a how-to guide or conventional self-help manual. Instead, it’s a gentle, joyful invitation to look up, look around, and rediscover the extraordinary in the ordinary. Through powerful insights and warm encouragement, Wonder and Joy for the Wired and Tired helps readers step off the “happiness = wellness” hamster wheel, take a big step back, and breathe deeply. It creates space to experience the tears, the chills, and the thrills of a world filled with wonder.
Perfect for anyone seeking a mental reset or a moment of inspiration, Wonder and Joy for the Wired and Tired is both a balm for the soul and a spark for the spirit.
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You’ve had a remarkable career spanning clinical practice, administration, education, and research. What initially drew you to the field of health and healing?
Even as a young child, I was always fascinated with the natural world and the anatomy/physiology of living things. When other kids were playing with dolls, I was usually in the creek by our house looking for frogs, fish, and insects. My mom has photos of me when I was five- and six-years old caring for injured birds and putting bandages on my friends’ cuts and scrapes. I think the life sciences, clinical practice, and research/education just became natural extensions of that.
As someone who champions a shift from “wellness” to “well-being,” how do you define the difference between the two—and why does it matter?
Out of habit, the terms “wellness” and “well-being” are often used interchangeably. But they are not synonymous. “Wellness” is the process an individual undertakes to achieve well-being. “Well-being” is the cumulative state of an individual’s current physical, emotional, and spiritual health at any given moment.
This distinction is important because despite wellness models’ best efforts to support our holistic health, the traditional wellness model is no longer serving us. It isn’t effectively supporting our well-being. Just take a look at chronic diseases like hypertension and heart disease, or mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, suicide, substance abuse, or acts of violence. Well-being offers a more expansive perspective. It encompasses the parameters of the wellness model, but it also considers the social determinants of health, the social, emotional, and spiritual components that impact life satisfaction, and identifies the gaps in the current health model – namely our need to have greater interaction with nature, prioritizing joy over the “quick-fix” of chasing happiness, and our appreciation of wonder, joy, and living a wholehearted life.
Before you wrote Wonder and Joy for the Wired and Tired, you started a blog: Mother
Nature’s Apprentice. Tell us about that.
As you know, I love nature, and I have always enjoyed writing. So, I first started the blog as simply a fun alternative to academic writing. I never thought anyone would take much interest in what I wrote because my posts were quite eclectic: gardening, nature, quirky science, embarrassing (and often dumb) things I did, etc. But the blog gained traction and gathered a wonderful following of readers who encouraged me to write a book. At first, I didn’t think I had the skill. But the adage, “write what you know,” is true. Once I took the leap and began writing the book, the blog provided additional creative energy and helped to make the journey quite fun.
With over four decades of experience in healthcare and education, what shifts have you seen in how we approach mental health and holistic well-being?
I am very excited to see that discussions surrounding mental health and its challenges have now emerged from the shadows. Individuals are no longer being institutionalized en masse. New therapies and medications are radically improving people’s lives. But we still have a long way to go. We need to get serious about effectively supporting and maintaining the well-being of individuals and communities. Pilates classes, personal trainers, and preventive health care exams are all great ways to stay healthy. But these are probably not the first priorities of a single parent working two or more jobs and struggling to scrape together enough money for food, rent, and shoes for their kids. We need to shift our priorities and our mindsets.
In your view, what are the biggest misconceptions people have about living a “healthy” life today?
Through savvy messaging and smart technologies, the trillion-dollar wellness industry has sold us on the idea that being “healthy” usually means maintaining our youth (instead of healthful aging), possessing physical attractiveness (according to an idealized North American image of “attractiveness”), and how happiness=wellness. If you look at the statistics, these have not improved our nation’s overall health status.
What daily practices or habits help you stay grounded and connected to a sense of purpose and joy?
Nature and the natural world continue to be important parts of my life. Even when I have crazy busy days, I make time to go outside and connect with life around me in some way– and not just with the obvious parts of nature we’re familiar with – like trees, flowers, birds, etc. But I also try to consider the hidden parts of the world around us as well; how the trees use photosynthesis to make their leaves green, or why we love the smell of the air after a rainstorm (it’s a biochemical process called “petrichor”).
The other two things are my connections with my family and friends, and what I call, “the extraordinary ordinary,” These are the joys and wonders that are all around us but are often taken for granted; holding our baby for the first time, or perhaps the hand of a loved one for the last time. Sunrises and sunsets. The love we see (and feel) when you look into your pet’s eyes. It may sound cliché, but life is short and it is very precious. We need to remember that.
What’s next for you—any upcoming projects, speaking engagements, or writing you’re
especially excited about?
I have a bit of all the above coming up over the next couple of months. Fortunately, my husband has some free time coming up, so I won’t be traveling alone. As for writing, I’m hoping the book launch goes smoothly, and I’ll use the time to re-charge my creative batteries. But I plan to use the fall to outline my next book. Who knows? Maybe I’ll write a cozy murder mystery.
Meet the Author:
Dr. Pam Stephens Lehenbauer, Ph.D., MBA, MSN, PMHNP-BC is an epidemiologist, nurse practitioner, researcher, educator, and an adjunct professor at Northern Kentucky University where she teaches in the faculty of graduate studies and investigates well-being. Pam is a popular international speaker and thought leader on wellness and well-being, how wonder, joy, and interacting with nature impact health and wholehearted living, and why we need to shift the paradigm from wellness to well-being. She is also the creator and author of the popular blog, Mother Nature’s Apprentice, and her first book, Wonder and Joy for the Wired and Tired: A Guide to Finding Inspiration and Well-Being in a Wonder-Filled World will be published by Bear Paw Press in September 2025.
Pam has over forty years of combined experience in clinical practice, health administration, and teaching. She has served on the editorial and administrative boards for several provincial, state, and national nursing organizations and is a member of the American Nurses Association, the Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives, Sigma Theta Tau International, and is a clinician member of the Planetary Health Alliance.
In addition to her extensive professional and academic work, Pam is also an avid gardener, a Certified Home Horticulturalist, and a conservationist who has created award winning gardens and sustainable wildlife habitats.
Pam lives on a small acreage in beautiful Northern Kentucky with her husband, Marty. They are the parents of several adult humans and countless non-humans who walk, fly, flutter, swim, crawl, and burrow. She loves to read, write, play piano, and explore the world’s beauty and wonders with her husband, family, and friends.
connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads
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