In the last few months, this is one of the books that has really had me thinking about my life, the world and how I want to be going forward. I am one of those folks that can feel like I never have enough time. Last year I made the choice to step down from my job in government to lean into my role as a spiritual leader. It was certainly about how I feel called to serve my community, but it was also about the fact that I felt like I was constantly on the go with not enough time to really think at the depth that I think this moment requires.
Over the last year as I have tried to reimagine my life at a different pace, as I have faced the physical realities of being middle aged and perimenopausal as I have watched the world trend increasingly unstable and outright mean - I have been asking - who am I called to be and how am I called to live. How can I feel rooted for myself and offer an example of rootedness to the people around me.
This books helped me sit with my own anxiety in relation to the chaos of the world. It also has been important in helping me think about what kind of daily rhythm I want to embrace so that I can be grounded and solid in this moment. The book references a lot of other thinkers some of which I have already read and others with whom I had less familiarity. This is a powerful read, but it is not necessarily quick. In each chapter there are things you may really need to sit with about your life and your future. My suggestion is that you allow the book to unfold over time. That you take it a chapter at a time and that you read it while thinking deeply about how you want to move on a daily basis.
As a person of faith, I find it interesting that in essence, she is calling people into a kind of Sabbath. She never uses the language of faith or even spirituality, but so many of the things she advocates for align with the traditions of prayer, meditation and Sabbath that come out of our ancient religious traditions. In some ways, her book reminded me a little of an update to Abraham Joshua Heschel’s book “The Sabbath.” As a person of faith I was able to easily connect it to my tradition, but I also think it takes some of the concepts and makds them relevant for the modern age and accessible to folks who don’t come out of a faith tradition.
The one other thing that I really want to recommend about this book is that it doesn’t suggest that you just stay in a coccoon of self-reflection. It does call you to be in relationship with others, both other humans and the natural world. Some other books like this, can focus so much on your internal life and not help to make the connection to the larger community. So I really appreaciated this book in this season of my life and I highly recommend it to people who get the sense that they need to go deeper but who also want to understand why they are struggling just to focus on a daily basis.
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