About the Book
Why I Felt Different — A Memoir by Lisa Ramos
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Why I Felt Different
For much of her life, Lisa Ramos felt different without understanding why. She struggled in school, relied heavily on routines and predictability, experienced the world intensely and often wondered why things that seemed easy for other people could feel so difficult for her. But life kept moving forward. Relationships, ovarian cancer, family, loss, caregiving, entrepreneurship and serious health challenges continually forced Lisa to adapt, problem-solve and keep going—even when she didn't completely understand what was happening inside her own mind and body.
For nearly 30 years—more than half her life—Lisa documented her experiences, challenges and private thoughts in personal journals. What began simply as a way to process her life eventually became an extraordinary record of the patterns, struggles and questions she couldn't yet explain. Those journals would later become an important part of telling her story in Why I Felt Different.
Along the way, creativity became an unexpected part of her story in her late forties. What began as a lifelong fascination with fashion, jewelry and design eventually became MONOLISA, the handmade business she launched in 2017. It wasn't until decades later that another piece of the puzzle finally appeared. Lisa was diagnosed as autistic, with ADHD and dyslexia. Suddenly, experiences stretching all the way back to childhood began to make sense.
“I hadn't suddenly become different. I finally understood why I had always felt different.”
The Journey Behind the Story
Why I Felt Different looks back across decades of Lisa's life—not simply at what happened, but at what those experiences eventually taught her about herself.
Survival & Resilience
From leaving a difficult relationship to facing ovarian cancer at a young age, some of life's hardest moments became unexpected lessons in strength and survival.
Creativity & MONOLISA
Years of curiosity, experimentation and learning eventually led Lisa to become an artist and build a handmade business around creating with her hands.
Health & Listening to Her Body
Serious health challenges forced Lisa to slow down, question assumptions and pay closer attention to what her body had been trying to tell her.
Understanding Why She Felt Different
A late-in-life diagnosis of autism, ADHD and dyslexia gave Lisa a new way to understand childhood, school, relationships, routines, sensory experiences and the person she had always been.
A Personal Story
Why I Felt Different isn't a story about having all the answers. It is a personal look at what can happen when experiences that once seemed disconnected finally begin to make sense. Through difficult moments, unexpected turns and plenty of humor, Lisa looks back at the person she spent decades trying to understand—and the clarity that came when she finally stopped measuring herself against the way she thought life was supposed to look.
“I am finally free to fly through life in my own direction, and at my own speed.”
Book Publication
Available in 2027.
Paperback, Kindle and signed-copy information will be available when Why I Felt Different is released.