1. Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
This is probably my favorite read of the year. I highly recommend it for anyone who desires to live “wholeheartedly”- which Brown defines as engaging with the world from a place of worthiness. She offers 10 characteristics of wholehearted living for us to cultivate, and the 10 counterparts that we can work on letting go of. She discusses shame and vulnerability in the most powerful and accessible way I can ever remember reading.
Some more of my favorite quotes and ideas from the book:
- Brown describes the crux of vulnerability- how I want to experience yours, but I don’t want to be vulnerable myself. I see your vulnerability as courage, but I see mine as inadequacy.
- I liked how she discussed disengagement as a more insidious form of betrayal than 1 big event; how not caring, letting the connection go, turning away is dangerous, crazy-making, and shame-inducing. This is consistent with Gottman’s research.
“Joy comes to us in moments- ordinary moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.”
- She gives 4 elements of shame resilience:
- Recognizing shame & understanding triggers
- Practicing critical awareness (reality-checking our messages & expectations)
- Reaching out- own and share your story
- Speaking shame
“We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen & known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness, and affection. Love isn’t something we give or get, it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them- we can only love others as much as we love ourselves. Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal & the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged, healed, and rare.”
2. 168 Hours- You Have More Time than you Think, Laura Vanderkam
This was an interesting read- and I picked it up at just the right time for me to dive in. I didn’t learn a lot of new information, but I did feel challenged to think through some important questions (I have pages of notes!) and I felt a renewed responsibility for the things that I allow or disallow to take up my time.
- Vanderkam introduced me to the idea of time blocking- scheduling absolutely everything during the week. That alone caused me to scrutinize and reorganize my priorities, weeding out the things that weren’t necessary or furthering my goals. I felt empowered to own those hours, and use them wisely.
- The author urges you to identify your Core Competencies, and to specialize in the things that only you can do (or do well). Taking control of the schedule means getting rid of non-core-competency tasks by ignoring, minimizing, or outsourcing them.
“Career doesn’t have to conflict with a full personal life!”
3. The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
This book was published over a decade ago, but it remains relevant and helpful even now. The author introduces some exercises recommended to break writer’s block, or bypass the inner critic, or get around whatever obstacles are in our way to practicing and pursuing creativity. Admittedly, I did not complete the majority of the exercies (such as the Morning Pages or the Artist’s Date) but I found it inspiring still.
“Necessity, not virtue, was the beginning of my spirituality.”
“The quality of life is in proportion always to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.”
4. What Makes Love Last, John Gottman
I like Gottman’s methods working with couples, and I like how most of his books are interesting and accessible to read for anyone who wants to improve their relationship. In this book he describes the importance of attunement (to understand your partern’s inner world) and “sliding door moments” (answering partner’s bid for connection, and turning toward them instead of away). He also discusses how flooding and negative comparisons can be deadly to relationships, and how to move past “regrettable incidents.” He touches on the 4 Horsemen of the Apolcalypse (criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling), which poison relationships and, Gottman asserts, predict divorce.
“Many people think that the secret to reconnecting with their partner is a candlelit dinner or a a by-the-sea vacation. The real secret is to turntowards each other in little ways every day.”
“To make a relationship last: couples must become better friends, learn to manage conflict, and create ways to support each other’s hopes and dreams.”
5. The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
This was a really fun book to read, and described Rubin’s own Happiness Project where she tackled one area of her life for each month of the year in an effort to become, well, happier. She weaves in her extensive research on happiness in with her personal experiences as she works on her marriage, friendships, work, money, etc. I was inspired to try some of her suggestions, and I love the idea of readers carrying our their own happiness project (although I have yet to pull the trigger on that one).
She quotes William Buter Yeats in one of my favorite lines:
“Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that, but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing.”
6. Better than Before, Gretchen Rubin
In this book about habits, Rubin outlines 4 tendencies around how people respond to expectations. Upholders respond to both outer and inner expectations, Obligers respond to outer but not inner expectations (so they need accountability), Questioners respond to inner but not outer expectations (so outer expectations need to turn into inner ones to be met), and Rebels respond to neither.
Much of the book is about self-knowledge, and she poses questions such as lark or owl? Simplicity or abundance lover? Familiarity or novelty lover? Then she discusses strategies for changing or starting new habits (many of which have been helpful for myself as well as with clients):
- Scheduling
- Accountability
- First steps
- Clean slate
- Convenience
- Loophole spotting
- Distracting
- Rewards & treats
- Pairing
- Clarity
7. Rising Strong, Brene Brown
This one follows Brown’s Daring Greatly. She asserts that anyone who attempts to live wholeheartedly (by showing up in the arena, daring greatly) is going to fall. Rising Strong describes the 3-step process of picking yourself up and moving on. First is the Reckoning, walking into your story. Here you recognize your emotions, get curious about your feelings, and try to make connections. Next is the Rumbling, owning your story. Here you get honest about your narrative and challenge your assumptions. Finally is the Revolution, where you get to write a new, braver ending to your story.
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.”
“The irony is that we attempt to disown our difficult stories to appear more whole or acceptable, but our wholeness, even our wholehearted news- actually depends on the integration of all of our experiences, including the falls.”
“Breath and mindfulness give us the awareness and space we need to make choices that are aligned with our values.”
8. Loving Your Kids on Purpose, Danny Silk
This book is a great read for parents who are Christians, or who are open to reading a parenting book from that perspective. In it he promotes love & relationship above rules & discipline- not eliminating consequences but rather allowing consequences in a way that preserves and even promotes the parent-child relationship.
The author walks parents through setting healthy boundaries with their children as an important part of self-care; then thoughtfully and calmly allowing the child to experience the consequences of their choices. There is also discussion around letting our kids fail, challenging the assumption that violence and anger are power, and making sure the correct person feels the weight of the problem (hint: it’s not the parent!).
I love the focus on building and protecting heart connections, and learning that discipline doesn’t have to happen at the expense of your relationship. Children and parents alike crave and benefit from close, trusting, safe relationships and the author explains how this is possible.
“Many parents believe that when their children present failure, rebellion, disrespect, irresponsibility, or other willful or sinful actions, they must gain control by intimidating their children into changing their minds.”
“We need to learn how to be OK no matter what they do.”
“But when my heart is connected to your heart, my decisions are designed to protect our relationship no matter how far out of my presence you are.”
9. Bread & Wine, Shauna Niequest
This book was about so much more than the food (although the recipes alone are great!)- family, faith, friends, and how life just shows up and plays out around the table. It was beautiful, and inspirational. As someone who can be intimidated in the kitchen, I found it practical and also encouraging- I like to think I’ll be more confident next time I approach unchartered territory with cooking or entertaining. And there’s something about cooking, eating, or sharing a meal with someone- it’s a part of our shared humanity that we interact with daily. It’s ordinary, but can be so much more. I made her bacon-wrapped dates on Christmas night, and they were a hit.
10. Food- A Love Story, Jim Gaffigan
This one is strictly for laughs (it’s great self-care!). It’s good, (mostly) clean fun. I actually listened to the audio version, that Gaffigan himself narrates. Several bits had me wiping tears and replaying way too many times.
