Summer Reading 2018 ...

We read to know we are not alone.

William Nicholson

Hello, Everyone!

Happy Summer!  After a very busy spring of workshops and writing (to say nothing of moving both home and office thirteen miles east to a mountaintop at the head of Burrard Inlet), I'm ready to put my feet up in my lovely new garden and begin reading the books that have been accumulating on my bedside table since the New Year.

Here are a few of the titles I'm hoping to read over the summer and fall (interspersed with a few novels and murder mysteries), just in case you might be interested in any of them yourselves:

1.  Indigenous Healing: Exploring Traditional Paths by Rupert Ross (2014)

Rupert Ross, retired assistant Crown Attorney for the District of Kenora, Ontario, writes about how the Indigenous people from whom he has learned about healing see healthy healing processes and a healthy future. He shares what he has learned about healing activities and about anchoring Indigenous life in traditional cultural visions once again.  He describes twelve striking differences between Indigenous and non- indigenous healing practices.

2.  The Courage Way: Leading and Living With Integrity by the Centre for Courage and Renewal and Shelly L Francis  (2018)

Based on the work of Parker J. Palmer, Shelly Francis identifies key ingredients needed to cultivate courage, the most fundamental being trust - in ourselves and in each other. She describes how to build trust through the Centre for Courage & Renewal's Circle of Trust approach, centred around eleven "touchstones" or guidelines for trust building. Each chapter features true stories of how leaders have overcome challenges and strengthened their organizations.

3.  Everyday Gratitude by A Network for Grateful Living (Foreword by Bro David Steindl-Rast)  (2018)

A collection of quotations on gratefulness, each followed by a question for reflection.

4.  On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old by Parker J Palmer. (2018)

Best-selling author, educator and activist, Parker J Palmer, explores aging as a passage of discovery and engagement.  He writes about cultivating a vital inner and outer life, finding meaning in suffering and joy, and forming friendships across the generations that bring new life to young and old.

5.  Climate Change by HRH The Prince of Wales, Tony Juniper and Emily Shuckburgh. (2017)

A small book from the Penguin Ladybird Expert Series explaining climate change in brief and simple terms written after Prince Charles addressed the Paris Climate Change Summit in December 2015. In conversation with a friend, Pr Charles was told that most people really don't understand what climate change is all about. The friend went on to suggest that Pr Charles produce a "plain English guide" to the subject. This book is the result.

6.  Chronic Sorrow: A Living Loss  2nd Edition by Susan Roos  (2017)

This is a new edition of the only book written on Chronic Sorrow to date. Written in a more accessible, though still somewhat dense style, it is a pared-down version of the original psychotherapy text giving an excellent explanation of the concept of CS and useful practices for coping with the continuing grief of chronic illness/injury and family caregiving.

7.  Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems Edited by Phyllis Cole-Dai & Ruby R Wilson (2017)

This book begins with the words, Some poems are good medicine. It goes on to offer a definition of mindfulness that guides the choice of poems for this collection - Mindfulness is keeping our heads and hearts where our bodies are.  Each poet illustrates mindfulness in a distinct way, many employing natural settings or imagery.

8.  Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande  (2014) 

I've been meaning to read this New York Times bestseller for a couple of years. It explores, though research and stories, the conflict that occurs when what medicine can do runs counter to what it should do. It looks at the suffering produced by medicine's neglect of the wishes people might have beyond mere survival, the quality of life questions we all should consider much earlier than we do.

And, for those of you who are wondering, the next community-based Caring On Empty Compassion Fatigue Workshop for Helping Professionals will be held on Friday November 2nd at the Granville Island Hotel in Vancouver, BC from 9-4. Brochures and registration forms will be available in early September at caregiverwellness@shaw.ca.