Good Reads // My Autumn Reading List
"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, if I knew your name and address." {You've Got Mail}
It's one of the most perfectly appropriate movie lines, ever: "a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils." YES. Literally, Fall means back-to-school for the kiddos (and oh, how I still miss those days). For myself, Autumn is a time for allowing change, for learning, for digging deep, for growing. Harvest, manifestation.
This season I want to focus on fear. Wait...WHAT?! I know, it probably sounds like a total bummer, but here's what I really mean: I want to face my fears. I want to figure out what really triggers them. I want to delve into them, work them out, get to a point where I feel comfortable with them.
And then I want to bust right through them. I want this season to be a time of courageous creation. I want to live boldly. I want to work, create, manifest. I am ready to witness what my harvest brings home.
Since Fall is reading season, I've stacked these books up on my nightstand for guidance and inspiration.
My Autumn Reading List, 2015
1. Rising Strong, Brené Brown
Ok, full disclosure: I've already started reading this one. I headed straight to Barnes & Noble the day it came out, bought myself a copy, cracked that thing open, and dove in. As a perfectionist, failure is one of my deepest fears. I'm gaining a lot of courage as I read this, because Brené gives a kind of action plan for what to do when you do fail. Because let's be real: failure is just a part of the whole deal.
2. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert
Yassssssss! New words from Liz Gilbert at last! I just want to hang out with her. So bad. Maybe that will happen some day (never say never!), but until then, reading her work is so comforting, so inspiring, so real. It feels like you're spending time with your very cool, very funny, smart, successful friend.
3. The Places That Scare You, Pema Chödrön
Perhaps the most impactful book I have read in my life thus far, is Start Where You Are, by Pema Chödrön. Since then, Pema books have become a permanent fixture on my nightstand, and I continue to be moved, inspired, and grounded by her words and her wisdom. I look forward to reading her thoughts on fear, specifically.
4. Creating on Purpose, Anodea Judith & Lion Goodman
This is the the one. This is the prize egg, and I'm saving it until the end. It's a guide through "the spiritual technology of manifesting through the chakras." Um, yes please! I love Anodea Judith--Wheels of Life is like a bible for me. I'm looking towards this book as a sort of summation of all I hope to delve into this season.
What are you reading this Fall? Anyone interested in joining me in my one-woman book club?
I'll keep you posted as the pages turn.