If you've been struggling too with wanting to do more, be more, make more, and realizing that you're tired, stressed, and overworked, I recommend these books to you to help you change your mindset, avoid burnout, reframe your focus, and ultimately find your balance between rest and work. Instead of rise and grind, consider anti-productivity and pro-rest to give yourself the rest you deserve. You can't serve your community if you're burned out, so self care is community care, and we need to restructure our work together.
Today, we're talking about a book you've probably seen a lot in my "words cut from" sections:Â How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I found this book in a free box in Chicago when I went to visit some really lovely friends in 2018.
As Amazon continues to subsume our lives, it can feel inescapable. (And in many ways it is, since much of the internet runs on AWS.) But we can take actionable steps to make sure that other businesses continue to survive and thrive.
So if you're asking yourself, "Where can I buy books that isn't Amazon?" here are a few ideas for you:
All About Love by bell hooks is an exploration into the different facets of love -- how it shows up in our communities, how we misunderstand it on a cultural level, and how we can make changes to better show up to invite love into our lives.Â
Click here to grab a copy from Bookshop.org and support independent bookstores. And we're reading this book together in the Soft Heart Book Club in June 2021, so come join us if you'd like to chat. (Even after we've had the monthly meeting, the Discord space is always open to dive back into different books.Â
I’ve found that reading books is an important way to educate myself as I work to grow as a human in the world. But it can be hard to do that in isolation, whether it’s because you don’t know where to start, some concepts are confusing, or it’s just hard to hold yourself accountable to our goals without a little external support.
So I've decided the start the Soft Heart Book Club. This is a space where we can explore different works that explore how to be better humans, cultivate our communities, learn new skills, and be better prepared to create the world we want to live in.
If you're interested in checking out the reading list and being kept aware of the book club updates, sign up here. There's no pressure for any specific level of participation, but at least this will help you stay connected and encourage you to add some of these bo
After thinking about it for some time, I've decided on a new name for my art studio: Soft Heart Studio. It fits the general vibe of how I want to show up in the world, with my soft heart on my sleeve, and honestly I just think it has a nicer ring to it. I'd never really loved the name I had before, and it took me a while to live my way into this name that feels like it fits.
Happy Monday (if you're reading this on Monday. If not, happy whatever day it is for you.) I wanted to take a moment to share with you some things I'm thinking about coming next in my work 💜Â
Join the Soft Surprises earring club by the end of the day today, March 28th, to get in on the shipment going out this month. (Or join any time after to get in on the next month's shipment 💌)