After I did my second post on what to read with your kids for Black History Month (you can read the first installment here), I started to think about what we adults could be reading. Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings came up when I searched for historical fiction related to slavery in America.
As I started to read it, I got pulled in pretty early on, which is unusual for me – I usually have to warm up to a book, sometimes for a long time, before I really get into it.
Disclaimer: I didn’t get all the way through this book before I had to return it to the library because someone else had requested it. When I found out I only had two days left, I powered through the sections that were most important to me, browsing at times. What I did read was interesting and powerful, so I wanted to share the book with you even though I didn’t get a chance to read it completely.
Still with me? Ok. Let’s talk about trauma. With the under-reporting of sexual trauma, broken homes and families, and the many other ways people can be hurt in this world, everyone has some connection with trauma. Either you’ve experienced it, or know someone who has.
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by
When my friend Laurel mentioned Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul To Rest, by Bonnie Gray, was next up on her reading pile, I picked up a copy for myself.
Based on the title, I was already on the journey. Plus, I’ve been curious to get a purely Christian perspective on this concept since reading After the Ecstasy, The Laundry, which included Christian ideology alongside other faith traditions.
I’ve introduced a lot of whitespace to my life this year, and I tend to still feel defensive about it. No one really gives me grief about my dance class, but meditation? The first response I often get if I mention that is, “But what do you do while you’re meditating?“
We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions. – Brené Brown
As meditation has grown to a one- to two-hour part of my waking hours many days, the obvious question is, how do I fit it in?
I’ve had to give up or reduce the time I spend doing three things:
1. Mindless Screen Time
2. Crappy Sleep
3. Pleasure Reading
As you can see, for the most part, there hasn’t been a huge loss.
