What’s Inspiring Me: Summer 2023
This is an excerpt from my August 2023 newsletter where I shared some of the books & media that have been inspiring me this summer.
Books
I've been taking my time this summer reading Soul Boom: Why we Need a Spiritual Revolution by Rainn Wilson. It turns out that the actor who played Dwight on The Office has some hot takes on the importance of spirituality! Nothing he shares is revolutionary, but at a time when society continues to be divided by an "us vs them" mentality, it's a good reminder that we are all US. This book would be a great gift for a millennial or Gen Z who has an interest in spirituality, but not necessarily religion.
Early in the summer I read We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection by Michelle Cassandra Johnson. There's so much I love in this book, I really need to re-read it. I love that Michelle includes nature, plants and animals in our community; that she acknowledges that the world is challenging right now and we can't fix/heal everyone and everything; and that, amidst it all, we should still experience joy. Each chapter includes journaling prompts and practices that can be done on your own or in community.
(Speaking of healing and community, a dear friend sent along this TedTalk by Shamini Jain recently and she shares the SCIENCE of social pain and physical pain and how we literally heal in community!)
Shows
There are two shows, both on the Peacock channel/app, that I really enjoyed AND that are both inspired by books.
The first is The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, a sweet series that deals with a topic many of us avoid thinking and talking about: what's going to happen to all my sh!t when I die?? The 3 Swedes handle the physical and emotional baggage in a loving but firm way and by the end of each episode I have the same hopeful, upbeat feeling I get after watching an episode of Queer Eye!
The other show is The Geography of Bliss with Rainn Wilson, (yeah, he's on my list TWICE!) Rainn travels to some of the happiest and least happy places on the planet, always with an eye to finding out the secret to happiness. It's a enterntaining travel show with a great message.
Podcasts
I'm loving NPR's Enlighten Me segment. I've loved all of the episodes I've listened to so far, but if I had to pick a stand out favorite, it would be this one: Letting go of hate by questionig the very idea of evil.
And I listened to this interview, (the link is a youtube video but I listened on apple podcasts,) from the Podcrushed podcast with ALOK while I rode the train home from Seattle and it had me feeling ALL THE FEELS but mostly just a deep connection and love for the stories and insights ALOK shares.
If this list interests you, head on over and sign up for my newsletter and get content like this delivered straight into your inbox!