These Books Changed My Life (or at least lit a spark for change)
Books light me up. Like deeply inspire me. When I walk into the library, it feels like the world is my oyster. When I sat down many years ago and made a bucket list for my life, one of my list items I drafted was “Never stop learning, evolving, becoming, dreaming.” You may notice that I love challenging myself to learn new things and to grow in who I am and how I understand the world around me. Stability and a deep sense of self is essential, but I love the idea that we are inherently flexible. Because it gives us the opportunity to grow in experience, wisdom, and faith as we grow in age.
So that brings me back to my first statement - books light me up. I love that you can open a book and be transplanted somewhere else to see how someone else thinks or that you can immerse yourself in knowledge that directly applies to something you are going through. I tend to gravitate towards non-fiction and biographies, but there is something to be said about getting lost in a good narrative too. It’s never a waste of time to expose yourself to more words.
I’ve been trying to slow down on the value I find in being busy and instead have been letting myself just be in a good book. It feels good to be intentional about challenging myself in this way. As a result, I’ve already read more books in the past 3 months than I did all last year. It feels good to make the time for something I truly find value in, even if it doesn’t look that way to the rest of the world.
I’ve found so much inspiration in the books that I have read lately that I thought I would share some of my favourites here. All of these books changed my life in one way or another, even if that change was just a spark to think about something a little bit differently. Maybe one of these will change your life too.
Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less by Tiffany Dafu
This book took me 2.5 months to read. I kept picking it up to absorb a chapter, and then would set it back down to let the information percolate. It was a mixture of memoir and personal reflection and really valuable research-based information to apply to your own life. Since becoming a mother, I have really struggled to “do it all” but this book helped me realize that I don’t need to. In fact, it’s detrimental when I do. There was one exercise in this book that really impacted me. It involved two different things: first of all, picturing your own funeral (seemingly morbid) to imagine what you hope others would say about you, and second of all, actually asking those around you what they see as your strengths and what you mean to them. The idea of this feels a little bit self-absorbed and uncomfortable, but as Tiffany Dafu points out, it can really help you realize what is most valuable for you to invest your time in and achieve in your life. What you were called to do. Then you can unapologetically drop the ball on all the other things that don’t advance that vision you have.
This all is definitely still stewing in me. I haven‘t completely nailed down my own vision yet, but I am definitely well on my way to sorting that out and I already feel so much more confident in letting go of the things that really are not that important. This book absolutely changed my life.
“Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power by Jody Wilson-Raybould
In contrast to the book above, I devoured this one in 4 days. At the beginning of this year, I found a new interest in politics. I hesitate to say that because I know all the connotations that come with that particular word, but what I really mean by that is that I’ve stopped letting the boring and often off-putting reputation of what that means prevent me from understanding the world around me. And it’s not because I feel like I have a place in politics or like I have much to add, but more so have seen it as an opportunity to be more aware of what is truly going on directly in the world around me and realizing that I have a right (and then responsibility) to be a part of it.
I live in Canada and this book specifically speaks to Canadian politics. It definitely wouldn’t be interesting to everyone. But this memoir-style commentary on how our political system here in Canada works (or as I learned, really doesn’t work) through the lens of a single experience really sparked in me a deep dive into further research about our system. Jody Wilson-Raybould is someone I was aware of due to her presence in the media around a particular Canadian political scandal, but absorbing her honest retelling of her experience was impactful. I don’t necessarily agree with all of her ideas, but I have a deep respect for her integrity and principle - something that easily gets lost in the world of politics. This book was a great starting point for me and inspired a lot more books on my reading list.
Make Something Good Today: A Memoir by Ben and Erin Napier
Hometown is one of my favourite shows to watch on HGTV. Not necessarily because I would recreate all of Ben and Erin’s designs in my own home, but because you can really feel the authenticity and heart behind the homes they create. I’ve always admired Ben and Erin and I do so even more after reading their reflective memoir. They perfectly balance a longing for the simple and beautiful with intention and meaning, in their homes and their words. I loved learning more about who they are and what lead them to the place they are now in their careers and marriage.
What I most took away from reading this is how similarly I feel to Erin. I loved hearing her describe her experiences and musings with detail and intention because it felt like so many of my own thoughts put so eloquently into words. I could really relate. I greatly admire her work ethic, passion, and humility and am inspired to keep leaning into the path I’m on, one individual step at a time. There is so much to trust about the process.
The Age of Creativity by Emily Urquhart
This was an unsuspecting book. In fact, I randomly borrowed it from the library on a whim one day while I was browsing the art books. It offers a glimpse into a Canadian artist - admittedly one I didn’t even know about - through the perspective of his daughter. In particular, she narrows in on his later life and her own experience of watching her artistic father age and lose his memory, yet pick up and reinvent his artistic practice. This book wasn’t a bestseller or one I had even heard of, but it made a quiet impact on me and touched on a topic that really inspires me.
The book challenges the notion that aging is a demise and instead offers insight into how her father’s creativity flourished and evolved as he got older. It also looks at a handful of other artists who actually produced some of their best work at later stages in their careers, often after receiving a devastating diagnosis that impacted the way they originally created. I have always loved the idea that life is long and there is plenty of opportunity to reinvent what you do with your time. I’ve always appreciated the romantic notion that maybe I don’t have the capacity to do things right now, but creativity is a long-game and down the road, there may be an opportunity to explore new ways of creating. I’ve never felt particularly afraid of aging, but I know it’s often regarded as something to defy in our society. I love the hope this book offers that aging simply offers us another new opportunity. That we never have to stop creating, learning, and growing in who we are and what we offer this world.
What about you? Have you read any life changing books lately? Share them with me. There is something so empowering about reading a good book and I look forward to prioritizing this even more in my life. You never know where the next good idea or inspiration in your life will come from.
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