Books change lives
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The joys of reading
“The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.” ~Alan Bennett, The History Boys I’m a lucky reader with an active book club in my own neighborhood. Once a month, I get to walk down the street or around the corner to a friend’s home to discuss a novel or memoir that I might…
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Daybooks
“You are exactly where you need to be. This is the perfect day to start your life again.” ~Brianna Wiest, The Pivot Year This month, I revisited the old-fashioned ritual of reading a daybook entry every morning. It’s a wonderful way to start a new year — and it helps keep me grounded, positive, and motivated. Not to be confused with journals or diaries, daybooks originated in the late 1500s as books for recording daily events or accounting transactions. Over time, daybooks evolved into curated collections of short spiritual musings, magazine clippings, inspirational quotes, and other bits of wisdom. In recent years, daybooks such as Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance and…
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Novel escapes
“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.” ~Mary Schmich, journalist Next week, my neighborhood book club will meet to nominate and vote on our reading selections for the year. We’ll choose from a variety of novels, classics, and nonfiction titles suggested by members of the group. So I’ve spent the past couple of weeks taking a deep dive into several books, then narrowing down the best ones to nominate. Reading has been a wonderful escape on these chilly winter afternoons. As today’s quote reminds me, reading opens a door to new worlds and ideas — just as touring a foreign country introduces the tourist to different scenery and culture. Likewise,…
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Rethinking my resolutions
“Beginnings are notation for the symphony of the possible in us. They ask us to break the pattern of our lives and reconfigure it afresh — something that can only be done with great courage and great tenderness, for no territory of life exposes both our power and our vulnerability more brightly than a beginning.” ~Maria Popova, The Marginalian Have you made any New Year’s resolutions yet? You might loosely define a “resolution” as a self-improvement goal — such as eating healthier meals or exercising more often. Then again, a New Year’s resolution could serve as motivation to achieve or acquire something specific — a clutter-free storage room, for instance,…
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Self-Help Book Club reminder
“Healthy striving is self-focused: “How can I improve?” Perfectionism is other-focused: “What will they think?” ~ Brené Brown Suburban-Detroit readers: There’s still time to register for the November Self-Help Book Club discussion at Clawson’s Blair Memorial Library. I hope you’ll join me for a deep dive into the popular new guide, How to Be Enough: Seven Life-Changing Steps for Self-Critics, Overthinkers, and Perfectionists, by Dr. Ellen Hendriksen. Does the fear of failing get in the way of your goals? Do you often worry that your best effort isn’t good enough? Do you overvalue the opinions of others? Dr. Hendriksen is a practicing psychotherapist who conquered her own perfectionism and helped many clients overcome…
