“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” ~Dr. Seuss
Glennon Doyle’s Untamed
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Sometimes a book comes along that simultaneously makes you feel so seen, expressed and inspired that you are positively gob-smacked by its aching vulnerability. That is this book. Her opening segment about a cheetah that she witnessed at a zoo, having forgotten it is a god-damn cheetah because of its conditioning, is the ultimate stage for a book about raw courage.
This one was like an arrow through my heart. It’s piercing honesty about her struggles with love, motherhood and sobriety went into the deepest part of me. The tears streamed down my face on the regular as Glennon recounts story after story about her personal agonies and triumphs. It’s a masterpiece of both the ‘Autobiography’ and ‘Spirituality and Inspiration’ genres.
“When women lose themselves, the world loses its way. We do not need more selfless women. What we need right now is more women who have detoxed themselves so completely from the world’s expectations that they are full of nothing but themselves. A woman who is full of herself knows and trusts herself enough to say and do what must be done. She lets the rest burn.”
Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map
A Guide to Creating Goals With Soul
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Confession: I may have a small girl crush on this phenomenal human and her divine gift with both speech and writing. I absolutely devour each episode of her podcast ‘With Love, Danielle’ and revel in the richness of her knowledge on yogic traditions, values, and advocacy for the marginalized. She is something of a hero to me. So it goes without saying that this book gifted to me by my sister-in-law, Jen Holmes, is one of the books I still recommend most often to my Tarot clients.
“When we want to feel courageous more than we want to check accomplishments off our list…When we want to feel free more than we want to please other people …When we want to feel good more than we want to look good …then we’ve got our priorities in order. Divine priorities-the kind that will steer you to the life you long for most deeply.”
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic
Creative Living Beyond Fear
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When a creative being shares their process and epiphanies about art with the world, it is an extraordinary gift. Well known, best-selling author Liz also wrote the wildly successful “Eat, Pray, Love” autobiography. This inspirational little book is specifically designed to have you examine your fears and your doubts about what you are creating and go deep, deep into it.
I was inspired by her passage on not burdening your art by the pressure to prove your talent by making it be your full-time income. But the nugget that has stood the test of time for me (and there are a great many) is the concept that if we do not put pen to paper, or finger to guitar, or brush to canvas when an inspiration or idea strikes, that somehow, in the ether, someone else will have a similar/same inspiration and create it instead. You must give birth to your art or someone else will have your baby. It lit quite a nice little fire under my derriere to honour my creative flashes like Alice chasing the rabbit. This small book packs a big motivational punch.
Michael Pond & Maureen Palmer’s Wasted
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In early recovery from addiction, I threw myself at every movie, book or Ted Talk that was about the subject of addiction and getting sober. This book came seven years into my recovery and STILL hit every nerve. The cherry on top of this superbly written and hair-raising chronicle was that the protagonist lived and practiced as a therapist in my hometown of Penticton. In fact, the book was recommended to me by my aunt and uncle as he was their marriage counsellor.
The story follows Michael to the East side of Vancouver and White Rock where we lose count of the recovery houses, relapses and revolving door of hospital visits. I found myself actually cheering out loud many times with tears sliding down my face at the atrocities Michael endured at the hands of alcohol. This is not just another book about getting sober.
Eckhardt Tolle’s A New Earth
Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
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I will admit that I found the message of the book to be hammered home a bit redundantly, but I sympathize with the author as he needed to fill a book and not just write an essay on the topic of ego. *Spoiler Alert* What was a game changer for me when the book came out in 2005 was his concept that our thoughts are not actually us. Furthermore, they are the source of most of our dysfunction. He introduced me to the concept that we are the silent observer of these ego-driven thoughts, compulsions and negative self-talk. He proposes that the earth would be renewed if we could all have an awakening to this new consciousness. “The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”
Ground-breaking for its time and still one of the first books on any Google search when you search the topic of Spirituality & Awakening, this is a foundational spiritual must-read.
“Life is the dancer, you are the dance.”
Marianne Williamson’s A Return to Love
Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles
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A simple, yet universal concept is explored: “Love is the answer, no matter what the question is.” Williamson has a gorgeous eloquence and leans in hard to complex concepts from the Course in Miracles which I fully admit I never did pile-drive my way through.
To my astonishment Marianne’s publisher granted me permission to open my Tarot book with one of her famous quotes: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
Honourable Mentions:
James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy
An Adventure
A great read for those new to exploring their beliefs in Spirituality “A man journeys to Peru and discovers the meaning of life through Nine Insights, which are invaluable to living a spiritually enriched/evolved life on Earth.”
Jen Sincero’s You Are A BadAss
How To Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
This book is motivation at its finest, despite the superfluous title. She lights and stokes the fires of inspiration and action towards the life you dream of. It was one of the single biggest kicks in the pants to become an entrepreneur in my own right instead of lining the pockets of others.
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet
A genius and profound group of “prose-poem-fables” that was written way back in 1923! Some of the poems written…”On Death”, “On Marriage”, “On Freedom”, “On Pleasure”, could be re-visited and re-studied all life long.
Authored by:
Sarah Mayes
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