This book was key to opening my inner eye. Instead of focusing on why(?!) my parents/family/peers acted and act the way they do, I can find peace in knowing it's not personal. It also helps me see where I need emotional growth.

RAIN is a practice first introduced to me by my lovely therapist. It stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture. These steps are asked in succession in order to recognize what it is I am feeling, I allow myself permission to feel it, I investigate what the feeling needs, and then can nurture it by either providing the need myself or asking another to help me. As someone who struggles to even recognize my emotions in the moment, this book is critical and I return to it often. 

Another book by Tara Brach, this one should be read (in my opion) after Radical Compassion. This is good hard work. Several negative self beliefs were uncovered by the questions asked, and worked through with patience and time. I found myself journaling a lot alongside this book just to work through my thoughts on paper -which helps.

I love this book for the way it talks about emotions as levels of energy. Apathy is at the lowest point all the way through to Peace at the highest level of energy. The way that the emotions are described allows me to feel them (seemingly stored up in hidden pockets of my body!) before analyzing the feelings and moving onward and upward. I highly recommend this book to anyone struggling with feeling low. It asks tough questions that deserve thought and time.

There are also some outdated references and gender roles, I chose to be annoyed but push through -you may not feel that way and I respect that.

I was recommended this book by a man working at Taco Bell, so of course it opened my mind and changed my perspective on life. I'm grateful for the challenges posed and questions asked, facts and lived experience shared. There has to be another way we approach punishment, because the prison industrial complex is Not It.

I believe Fiction has the lovely ability to foster empathy by immersing the reader in someone else's reality. This book contains 5 short stories written from the perspective of children across 5 African countries. Children are most vulnerable anywhere you go, these stories stay in the back of my mind always.

This author describes her heart as smooth, as though nothing can stick to it. Her journey toward a more accepting and open heart resonated with me when I first started healing. This was my first look into what group therapy is like, and it encouraged me to try without as much fear.

This book will take you through the life of Huey Newton, the leader of the Black Panthers. His story is inspiring and relatable, he is a man driven and aware. He speaks on revolutionary work being suicidal, as a choice, because it is a well known fact that being black and being outspoken in America will get you killed. He chose to fight against oppression and injustice until his death. I feel there is a lot to learn from the perspective of someone so selfless and clever advocating for the people.

The first time I tried to read this book I couldn't make it through the first chapter. I found it so dry I turned to an audiobook that I could listen to at work. I don't recommend this, as the topics discussed casually and in great detail brought me to tears often. However! This is the first piece of media that I felt actually 'got it right'. There is no shying away from uncomfortable topics, there is no pausing between gut punches. I needed this kind of intensity to feel seen. I think it has the capability to re-traumatize so I highly recommend working with a therapist as you read and taking breaks to come back to your center. It has great information on the science behind trauma and ptsd, how neural pathways are wired and chemical responses are activated. If you know someone who experiences ptsd or cptsd, please do them a favor, read or listen to this book.

At the time of reading this book, I had just lost my grandpa. He suffered through dementia for several years, he had to leave his home and his autonomy. His death felt like a roaring forest fire in my heart. I needed the sadness of this book to feel how truly in pain I was. There was something really special about experiencing the acceptance of death through the death of the author's mother. She held my hand through a time of deep grief.

I feel like this one is self explanatory. Palestine only recently entered my awareness, so this helps with the timeline of events leading up to current day. I would say that the situation in Palestine is not unlike the situation hundreds of years ago when white colonizers took the lands of Native Peoples in America by force and divine 'right'. Palestinians lived on Palestinian land long before Israelites decided it was theirs. Free Palestine.

Eco-grief is a new word to me, but it describes the grief felt for our changing planet. If you believe in science you know there is a lot of destruction happening with seemingly no intention to repair humanity's footprint. It can feel incredibly disheartening and depressing. I needed to read this book to remember what it felt like to believe in a better future. This belief is not an unrealistic 'everything is going to be fine'. It lives in reality while providing an inspiring look toward a future where enough people take climate crises seriously -where hope still lives.

This book reads as a methodical guide to shifting communication toward peace and understanding. We are asked to take responsibility for our feelings, actions, and the way we move through the world.

Another piece of Fiction, this book follows 7 year old twins navigating childhood and growing up in the political landscape of 1960s Ayemenem, India. Children are most vulnerable, and also most likely to point out blatant injustice. Part love story, but mostly tragedy- this book discusses who we are allowed to love.

I have never been to AA or NA, but I picked this book up in a used bookstore because it had notes written in the margins that I wanted to examine. It turns out, wether or not you turn to substances for help/relief, this book rings the bells. There is a spiritual element that I've always seen represented as a Christian 'god' in media. Through reading Tara Brach's books, I could hear the message of spirituality as a connection to something more like ....a great energy that connects all living beings simply because we live and experience life. That's my version of god. You can borrow it if you want. The point is, feeling connected to life helps fill a void I've always felt.

This book will connect you to yourself and to life.

I want to point out that any great and genuinely progressive ideas for a better future are coming from the minds of black people. In this book, we are asked to imagine a different way of teaching (and learning!) that feels more respectful, engaging, and inclusive in the sense that minds are not only 'taught' they are seen. I find this way of thinking to be incredibly inspiring and thoughtful, it gives lived experience the credit it deserves. I feel the drive to help others in the ways I am attempting comes directly from reading these words. If you call yourself a feminist, this should be top of your list (especially if you're a white woman).

I think everyone should read this book. The voices of sex workers have gone unheard for a very long time, arguably by design. This book is packed with valuable lived experience, it confronts common misconceptions, and calls for advocacy. This book changed the way I perceive sex work but also women's rights in general, it is another must read for feminists. We should all be tapped into the treatment of sex workers and their rights; it is beyond clear to me that decriminalizing the work of consenting adults is the way to protect and help these individuals.

A masterful piece of Fiction, Toni Morrison says the things no one else will. She weaves a tale of people who feel real and messy and heartbreakingly lovable. She speaks on race through the hopes of children, and she confronts shameful sin in a way that makes my skin crawl. You should be aware that there are significant SA triggers, take your time with this one.

Every word is written carefully and with thought. I come back to this short piece of wisdom when I feel my heart is closed and my world is small.