The quest to find one’s identity is the heartbeat of
humanity. The quest for identity can be attributed to many things that lay the
foundation to one’s identity, such as race, culture, sex, or even personal
history. Daniel Keys’ writing of “Flowers for Algernon” is an example of one
man’s journey to find himself. Everyone lives their life as a journey to simply
find their one true self.
Everyone deserves to be treated as though their life has
meaning and value. Incidentally, Charlie Gordon defends his right to be seen as
somebody. “” But I’m not an inanimate object” I argued, “I’m a person.”” (Keys
p 89). This argument of his has the haunting element of the many peoples who
have been trapped in the bonds of slavery over the years, proclaiming their
right to be seen as equals, also that statement can be ingrained in a society
of oppressed people such as the Jews who were horrifically persecuted and
maimed simply because of being Jewish and their desperate cries to be seen as a
real people, who deserved a place and a right in society as much as any other
nation of people.
Another standard by which some choose to use as a form of
personal identity is one’s status. For some people, the more they have, whether
it is friends or possessions, the more popular or revered they will be. Charlie
Gordon believed that if he gained more intelligence, was smarter, everyone
would like him more and he would have more friends. He recorded this theory as
he was writing in his progress reports before he had the surgery to make him
smarter. “If your smart you can have lots of friends to talk to and you never
get lonely by yourself all the time.” (Keys p 15). This is much the same way of
thinking by people who believe that the more nicer things they have, such as,
expensive sports cars, boats, or expensive material things the more status they
will have and therefore people will look up to them and admire them. It also
correlates to the idea that others have, in that, if they “go with the flow”
and do what the “in crowd” does, they will have more friends and not be lonely;
such as, if they go clubbing or to bars and drink and party like everyone does,
they will always have lots of friends around and never worry about being
lonely. However, sadly enough, this way of thinking is shallow and generally
lends itself to reckless actions that leads on to finding themselves in a much
worse place than they were before they tried to use their status to forge
friendships.
Charlie learned after his operation that intelligence is
also an identifying factor in one’s identity. People become categorized by the
level of their education or intelligence and others react to them accordingly.
Often times people of higher intelligence tend to look down or dismiss the
validity of someone else because they are of lesser intelligence. In a
conversation between Charlie and Alice, this idea was addressed as she pointed
out to him that he, in fact, made her feel awkward following the operation
because she could not keep up with him intellectually and stated that next to
Charlie, she felt dull-witted. She went on to say to him that now, most days
that they see each other, after she leaves him, she goes home with a miserable
feeling that she is now slow and dense about everything. She explains that she
reviews things that they have said to each other and thinks of things that she
should have said and thinks of all the bright and witty things that she should
have said, then feels like kicking herself because she did not think to say
them when they were together. This kind of intelligence segregation begins
early in life. One can see it in schools where the smart, or more commonly
referred to as, “preppy” kids demean or simply ignore the lesser aptitude
students. It is also prevalent in the workplace as higher up the management
chain. The more educated and higher salaried employees do not really do any
kind of socializing wither the lower educated and lesser salaried employees. In
many cases, it falls back to the status ideology, but mostly in these
situations, it simply rests on the principle that at different intelligence
levels, they do not have very much in common and do not have the ability to
communicate on the same intellectual levels.
From birth, one’s family, culture, heritage, and
ethnicity begin laying the groundwork to their identity. As one progresses
through life, factors such as education, work experiences, status, friends, and
relationships mold the clay and help to define their one true identity. Each
individual lives out their lives in a way so as to find that quest on one’s
true self. Charlie Gordon gained just enough intelligence to realize that no
matter how much one can alter their life, deep down, there is no changing who a
person truly is. The core value of the idea is that all men are created equal,
but society sets the standards by which all men are perceived.
Resources
Keys, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon. Orlando: Harcourt,
2004. Print.
Life throws a lot of things our way. Life will send the storms; the flood, the fire, and the rain. But I believe the most important thing to consider is, when the water recedes, what does your character say about you? I have literally been through some of life’s storms. My son and I were trapped in our severely damaged home after the Palm Sunday tornadoes in 1994, and most recently my family survived a devastating flood. Having to jump from a window because we were in danger and getting to higher ground to watch our life literally floating away before our very eyes. They say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but I like to take that a step further and say that I believe what doesn’t kill you can make you kinder.
One who learns to value
how fragile life is can in turn learn to appreciate even the smallest gestures
of kindness. Since the flood, I have seen my sixteen year old daughter really
grow in her maturity. She has ministered to friends at school, and even to
those in school whom she does not consider very friendly. She makes posts on
Facebook and Twitter that get hundreds of likes and retweets. She has become
quite the inspiration to many, and she is without doubt the most uplifting
person I know. Her character speaks volumes of the wonderful person she is, and
people are naturally drawn to her because they feel better just being around
her.
Since the flood, I have become more aware of people, as in their actions and reactions. I recently took my car in for service at the dealership, and while I was there I planned to catch up on some of my reading. I found myself getting sidelined by people watching instead. Mostly I was watching and listening to the employees of the service department. Many of the “grunt” workers of the department were coming into the main area and mingling a bit. As I watched them and caught bits and pieces of their side conversations, I gathered it was lunch time and the service department manager had lunch catered in to them every day. I was highly impressed by this. Not by the fact they were enjoying BBQ sandwiches as much, but rather in how they responded to him and him with them. He was more than a boss to the men in his employ, he was a leader. Many places would think nothing of the employees clocking out, fighting traffic to get to a place of choice, and waiting to get their meal before finally eating only to fight traffic getting back. But there was no “every man for himself” attitude in that service department. I could easily see the employees not only respected him, but admired him, and they followed his example. I was so impressed by witnessing of the service manager’s character, that I called my daughter right there in the lounge and bragged emphatically over the place.
I’ve also taken notice of
people’s reactions to you in checkout lines. Of course employees are taught to
say the generic “have a nice day” as part of their customer service training.
But how many people going through those lines, actually appreciate or take time
to reciprocate their “have a nice day?” I have started a habit, sadly I do not
remember to do it every time while in checkout lines- I’m far from perfect, but
when the cashier says for me to have a nice day, I reply with “thank you, and
you have a blessed day as well.” I have
had quite a response to this. I’ve had many people take a double take, light
up, and say, “Thank you so much!” with gleaming smiles.
We all have bad days, bad
weeks, and bad years, but the trick is, not to let the storm make you bitter.
Besides, we never know when someone else’s day is worse. Are they still in
their time of flood season? Maybe just a simple gesture of kindness can make a
difference in someone’s storm. So when life throws her perils your way, and the
waters recede from the flood, what will your character say about you? Anyone
can learn the mundane task of repeating “have a nice day” as part of your
routine. But I believe people should be sincere in their delivering and
receiving of even the simplest acts of kindness. I believe that once the dust
settles and when the water recedes, people have the ability to learn valuable
lessons from the story, and even greater, the ability to grow from the
experience. Just like glass is put into the fire to refine it and make it
something beautiful, I believe we can use our trials by fire to refine us and
build the kind of character that legacies are made of.
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First on the list is Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. While Girl, Wash Your Face is not specifically a productivity book, per say, I felt it deserved to make the top of the list. Rachel Hollis explains in this book we can tend to allow the lies and limitations thrust upon us by society to prevent us from having the courage to pursue our own dreams, ambitions, and goals. And, that is counterproductive. Rachel is so charming, and adorable. She is so raw and authentic in telling her own story as she progresses through the book, that she immediately becomes your friend. In fact, she is the one friend you want there when you suffer a bad break up or you do not get into nursing school. She will comfort you, much like a half-melted pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia and she will cry tears with you, real tears. Then she will wipe your messy misty hair away from your face and bring you back into the reality that those people and those things do not get to define who you are. It is impossible to be productive in the pursuit of your dreams and ambitions and the achievement of your goals, let alone just getting through your daily to-do lists when you are weighted down with the ideology that you are not good enough, or pretty enough, or smart enough, or even, lucky enough to accomplish them. Let Rachel hold your hand through the journey of peeling off the layers of self-doubt, insecurity, and blaming and shaming yourself, so that you can have a clean slate to being the foundation of gaining confidence to productively build the life you want- the life you deserve.
Second on the list is Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight . Sarah is witty and funny in her straight-forward approach to becoming more productive. She uses the concept of mental decluttering. Whereby, you will purge from your mind all the unnecessary things that take up too much of your time and energy and hinder you from getting the real important stuff done. Unlike “Girl, Wash Your Face,” which focuses on a form of mental decluttering the negative thoughts that pervade our beliefs and our faith in ourselves, this book is more about a mental decluttering of the things that can rob us of our productivity by sucking up so much of our time. Things like constantly checking emails, or stopping whatever you are doing far too many times throughout the day to scroll on social media, or with a nervous half-smile reluctantly agreeing to volunteer to help with the company bake sale this Saturday, even though you know you have a paper to write for school or you had planned to go THIS Saturday to get those tires changed that are wearing thin. The focus of this book emphasizes the need to learn how to prioritize. By taking an accurate inventory of everything you have on your plate, aka schedule, and weeding out the things that are not a high priority and concentrating on the ones that have the highest priority, you set yourself up to be more productive throughout the day and week. Her principle is based on the notion that if you have something come up that you feel obligated to do, but you have to give up something that you really wanted to do or something you really need to do, then this new thing is a low priority and you should not feel obligated. Just because you are asked by a dear friend, coworker, or family member, does not mean that yes should always be the answer.
Next, we find The 5 Second Rule written by Mel Robbins. Mel uses wit and logic to delve into the story of how the 5 Second Rule came to be. It started out as a tool to help “launch” her out of bed in the mornings and stop hitting the snooze button until she had wasted the better part of every morning avoiding getting up and facing her life. The principle of this book is how we can reset our thoughts and actions by triggering our prefrontal cortex simply by counting down from 5. The key to the rule is that you have to count down from 5, 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Liftoff! Mel uses the science backed idea that if you count forward from 1, your brain will, by nature keep counting with no stopping point. The 5 Second Rule is based on the idea that within as little as five seconds, we can allow fear and doubt to take over our thoughts and prevent us from taking action to do the things we very much want to do. Some of the examples used in the book include a man sitting at a bar and wanting to speak to a woman he sees across the room or a woman who decides to take her sister’s children to raise following her untimely death, or anyone sitting in a work meeting with a great idea but afraid to speak up for fear of no one else in the meeting agreeing that it is a good idea. Within as little as five crucial seconds, either of them could have made the decision to act on their choices, or have allowed fear and doubt hinder their judgement and cause them to miss out on some pretty incredible opportunities. Opportunities can be lost forever, in as little as five seconds. This book is about switching those negative thoughts of fear and doubt before they have a chance to take a hold and change the outcome from what you initially intended. This book is about restructuring the way you think in a way to give you more confidence and courage to act on the things you want to. To become fearless and believe in yourself. The book also has an accompanying journal and workbook, although neither are necessary to read the book or gain an invaluable plan from it, they are, in essence, additional tools to help reinforce the concept of the 5 Second Rule.
Once we break the habit of hitting our snooze button, we then find The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. The importance of a good morning routine is paramount to having a productive day. You can pick up any of one dozen or more books about productivity or success and they will all tell you that the most productive and successful people all practice the ritual of a regular morning routine. The size of the Miracle Morning community is phenomenal; all you have to do is search miracle morning on YouTube and you will find hundreds of videos by people who have adopted this morning ritual and swear by the positive impact that is has had on their lives. The Miracle Morning is about building an enriching morning routine around what Hal has termed the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. Each of the letters of the savers acronym represents a specific area for self growth and life enrichment. S- represents silence. Whether it is meditation, prayer, reflection, or just simply sitting in silence, Hal stresses the importance of beginning your morning ritual by clearing out the lingering thoughts. To get your head clear and focused to tackle the day without a myriad of things running around through your mind all day. A- represents affirmations. Hal points out that chanting in the mirror, “I am pretty.” “I am smart.” will not really have any lasting benefit if you are just mindlessly repeating words for the sake of repeating words. He emphasizes getting real and personal with the affirmations. Speaking to yourself positively about something personal and important to you will stand a greater chance of having lasting effects. V- represents visualization. Creating a vision board is the top suggestion. By placing the things you want to achieve onto something tangible that you can physically look at will help you gain the needed momentum for working toward those goals. Hal suggest sitting and actually visioning yourself not only once achieving the goal, but also, to visualize yourself working toward that goal, such as driving yourself to the gym every morning. E- represents exercise. It is no guarded secret of the benefits exercise has on us, both physically and mentally. One would be hard pressed to be productive throughout their day if they are suffering from ailments or just generally in physical pain from simply moving. Whether it is ten minutes or an hour, exercise is one part of morning routine that is bound to have the most immediate effects on how you feel. R- represents reading. Hal encourages daily reading, but puts more emphasis on reading for personal development. There are countless online options for courses or classes in personal growth and development. S- represents scribing. Journaling is suggested as one of the best means for your daily scribe. After meditating to purge all those thoughts out of your head and then reading for personal development, journaling would be a great way to write down how you feel about the things your learned that morning. Also, taking notes and writing out a plan for the things that your read about in your personal development reading would be a great means for daily scribing. Hal encourages his reader to begin with a 30-day challenge for trying the Miracle Morning, and then decide for yourself if you see a noticeable difference or not.
And, finally, last but certainly not least on the list is How To Make Sh*t Happen written by Sean Whalen. Sean takes a no-nonsense in-your-face approach to keeping yourself on track with the things that are most important in life. This book is not for the faint of heart. However, the reality is often times we need a gentle nudge and sometimes we need a swift kick in the rear to snap us back in line. Sean delivers on that swift kick of justice for us when we need it. He uses his principle of the “Core 4” to guide a plan for structuring every day around doing one thing, purposefully, to work on the four core areas of our lives that should be regarded in the highest. The core four areas are: Passion (relationships), Power (body), Purpose (mind), and Production (business). The idea is that every day you set one timed task to work on each of these four areas, and that by working on each of these each and every day, it will move you closer toward your end goal of relationship, health, financial and personal development success. The action steps planned are to be daily, they are better executed when they are timed and scheduled, and they are non-negotiable. Being that almost everyone nowadays has a smart phone within arms reach at any given moment, he stresses that the phone is the perfect planner to set about planning your Core 4 tasks. Some examples he gives is setting a timer on your phone to text a flirty message to your significant other, or find a trainer or workout partner to keep you accountable in your fitness goals. He also stresses the importance of having a morning routine. All too often, we tend to pick up self-help or personal development books and get all fired up over them because they are saturated with great ideas, and resources, and in our hearts, we know they are filled up with truth. Yet, somehow, when we finish reading the book, we put it down and move on to another book without ever looking back. Sean knows this, and he is continually giving commands throughout the book to “do this now.” As he is going through each of the four principles, he asks you to put the book down and take purposeful and deliberate action to work on the things that are important enough to work on every. Single. Day.
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Often times we are reminded of how much influence we allow society as a whole to have on us. I was recently reminded of that myself when I read “Girl, wash your face,” by the witty and charming Rachel Hollis. The book takes an in-depth look at how we can buy into the lies that society spoon feeds us and how we can, in turn, begin to feed those same lies to ourselves. She tackles many commonplace misconceptions about oneself, such as, “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not a good mom,” “I’ll start tomorrow,” “I am defined by my weight,” and a whole smorgasbord of self-defeating inaccuracies that can limit ourselves to step out of our proverbial comfort zones and realize our true potential. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her book, but in all sincerest honesty, Rachel made me acknowledge some hard truths about myself. While, most of my later adult life, I have been a self-proclaimed “independent woman” who had my shit together, the reality is that I have been independent because life had thrust me into circumstances, not of my own choosing, that warranted my self-independence, however begrudgingly. No matter how much we think we have ourselves together, there will always be those things that society sells that we are buying up like they are bargain deals at a going out of business sale at our favorite boutique. I for one, have come to accept that I have bought into so many of the lies that society, family, and even friends have been dishing out to me. Many of those lies, I have held on to and hid behind as though there was a sense of comfort in attaching myself to them, like a tub of death by chocolate ice cream after a stormy break up. There is something about the way that Rachel engages her readers with her own life experiences and stories that lends an air of realism to her, and allows the reader to relate to her words and gain a sense of trust in her, as though she gets us, because she has gone through so many of the same things. While Rachel’s stories may not be exactly the same stories, verbatim, as the ones that I or anyone else who reads the book owns, Rachel allows her one personal accounts with the lies that society places upon us to in some way, come across as a comforting chat with a dear friend, or sound advice from a trusted therapist. She speaks volumes of truth in her book in how she implores her reader to peel back the layers upon layers of untruth and tragic bullshit that society has heaped upon us for years and years, and realize the true and real value that we all possess. I would highly recommend anyone to read “Girl, wash your face.” But I would really encourage anyone reading the book to take the time to really dig deep in to the pages, and the words that Rachel is expressing to each and every one of her readers. Take her stories and let them seep in deeply into your mind and your soul. The advice she provides at the end of each chapter, noted as: “Things that helped me” are there as stepping stones, not meant to be disregarded or taken lightly. She has, as the reader will learn, overcome overwhelming odds to become the dynamo that she is today. And, people do not get that far in life without learning a few lessons along the way. When such people offer to share those learned lessons in an effort to prevent others from giving into the lies or to aid them in seeing past the lies dished out daily by the world around us, we listen. We learn. We adapt. We wash our faces, and we show the world just who we are!
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From early on in my childhood, I had been exposed to racism, even though I had not realized it until I was almost an adult. For most of my life, I did not see if for what it was. However, when I was well into my teenage years, I started to pick up on little signs that there was a problem. The first time I specifically remember noticing anything that was out of sorts, was when I was a teenager, I was about sixteen years old, and I had been working at the local sewing factory. I do not even remember why, but there had been a company come in to the plant to take photos one week. It was kind of like when you had school photos done as a child. I had a friend, and we had become best friends at work. I had talked about her all of the time at home, so my parents were familiar with her, at least as far as her name. So, on the day the photos were to be taken, we had decided to have our pictures taken together. We were so excited. We had one individual photo taken and then several of us together. For the next few weeks, I talked non- stop about the photos and how excited we were to get them back to see how they turned out. My parents had very little to say about the photos one way or the other. Finally, the day arrived, and the company came back to the plant to deliver the photo packages. Tracy and I waited anxiously to get our photos. I had never ad photos taken with anyone other than my brother and two cousins, and she did not have siblings, so she had never had hers taken with anyone else. We were very please with how they had turned out. That evening, when I arrived home from work, I had mustered up all the excitement I could handle to show off the photos to my parents. I expected them to go on and on about how well the photos turned out, how pretty we looked, as we had coordinated our outfits to match in sheer perfection. They stood silently for what seemed like eternity. The looks upon their faces were not that of parents who were pleased with the result of seeing their child captured in picturesque gloriousness. I stood there, confused, wondering why they were not saying anything and why they looked horrified rather than smiling. My dad was the first to break the awkward silence. He tossed the package of pictures down onto the table and said some pretty harsh words, the “long story short” of which translated into that I could throw the package of pictures away. They were not interested in keeping them at all. But I had paid for them with my own money made from my job at the plant, and I would never wish to throw them out. I was shocked and horrified myself now, as I wondered why I had looked so bad in the photographs that they had rather toss them in the trash than to keep them. They both went on for a time, mainly yelling curse words at me about how they were unacceptable. I still did not understand why, neither of us had dressed in any way that could have remotely been considered provocative or sexy. Then it happened, like a freight train slamming into a semi. My dad yelled it out at me, He did not hold back any taboo words when he exclaimed to me that the problem was not in our dress, or our hair, or our smiles. It was the fact that Tracy was black. I was taken aback. I had not thought about how during my life time growing up, I had heard that word before, but had never really associated it with any specific person, or group of persons. In that very moment, my innocence was lost to the world. They had never had any problems with Tracy and I being friends, when I talked about her, because they had never met her and just assumed she was white, like us. My gut reaction was one of shock and dismay. But the more I thought about the whole ordeal, I became enraged. How dare they think such horrible thoughts about my dear friend, just because she was different than them? They did not know her; how funny she was or how kind she was to me. They did not see how we laughed and talked about everything from Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups to boys. We were, in essence, two sixteen-year-old girls. Girls who should have still been in high school, planning what kind of dress to wear to our senior prom, what kind of college we would like to attend, and what kind of shoes to wear under our graduation gowns. But life and circumstances had forged its way into our life plans, and for whatever reasons, we had both dropped out of high school, and were working in the same local sewing plant. Being that many of the ladies working in the plant were much older than us, we needed each other. We were spending our days in an adult world based on productions totals and incentive raises, and we needed each other to remind ourselves that we were still only sixteen years old, and we still needed to enjoy some part of our lives. To this day, I still have those pictures. Not long after that whole ordeal, when I made a feeble attempt to give out some of the pictures to my family members, it was quickly made apparent to me that my entire family felt the same way as my parents had, and they wanted nothing to do with the pictures either.
Over time, as I grew older, I began to disassociate myself from my family. I have been mocked and shunned by various member of my family for not inheriting the same family beliefs. I had a huge falling out with my own brother when my sister in law was babysitting my daughter for me, and I learned the he was teaching her those same beliefs, at only three years of age. I had a friend who then I got to start keeping her and my son after school for me. Only to later learn that her husband had proved to be a very negative influence on them. When I had picked them up after work on a day that was a school holiday, and on the ride home, my son was explaining to me that he had taught them it was “James Earl Ray Day.” I could not believe what I was hearing! Obviously, I was out another baby sitter. Growing up in a small town rural north Georgia, it is something that is near to impossible to escape from. I am just grateful that I somehow managed to have the compassion and foresight to not buy into that dangerous way of thinking, and that I believe people are not inferior or superior to me simply based on the color of their skin or intelligence level, or really, anything at all. We are all equally human beings, some good some bad, but all human.
Mel Robbins packs a punch in her no nonsense, no BS delivery of the “5 Second Rule.” Mel teaches how to thrust yourself out of your own comfort zone by utilizing activation energy. Mel tells the story of how she invented the 5 second rule after watching NASA launch a rocket ship into the air, as a means to combat her unyielding habit of hitting the snooze button in the mornings and get out of bed. She begins by counting down, as counting up would be counterproductive because you could just lay there and continue indefinitely counting numbers, then sprung herself out of bed. Over time, she realized that throughout her day, she was constantly faced with decisions that within 5 seconds, she would back out of taking the desired action. Mel introduces the reader to the progression principle, in which you commit every day to do one thing that will move you toward your goals. In theory, whether it is speaking up during a meeting at work, introducing yourself to someone you have been wanting to meet, or going to the gym, if we allow ourselves time, as little as 5 seconds, we can second guess our decisions and allow fear and doubt to cloud our judgement. Then, sitting quietly through the meeting, letting that person leave without any exchange of words, or ending the day with no workout, becomes moments of opportunity that are lost forever. Mel forces the reader to take an honest look at what is holding them back, and by the simple action of counting down 5-4-3-2-1, completely shifting your train of thought, and taking that step forward!
GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER:
Sarah Knight is a rock star, and she holds nothing back in “get your SH*T together.” Sarah leads you on journey of mental decluttering and passionately pursuing the life you dream of. Sarah delves deep into all the things that we allow to steal our time away from us uncecessarily, such as scrolling on social media, sitting in front of the television, always volunteering to stay late at the office to help out, and even uncommonly thought time stealers like going out after work with coworkers, when you just want to get home and work on a personal project. Sarah forces you to take an honest, and sometimes harsh, look at the things that you give your time to throughout the day that serve you in a positive way, and work diligently toward eliminating those things that are left that steal away from you sense of peace. Sarah teaches her system for prioritizing the things that need to be done by what must be done and get those things completed, how to stop worrying about the things that should be done, but are not mandatory, and to free yourself to be able to live your life doing the things you want to do.
THE LAW OF ATTRACTION:
“The Law of Attraction” seems to be popping up everywhere these days. But, in his book Michael Losier provided the simple tools for readers to apply positive thinking into their lives to attract the things they want in their lives through positive thoughts, using the ideaology of “like always attracts like. Martin Seligman who is the founder of positive psychology, based the stufy on the ideas of what makes life worth living. While positive psycology is different from the law of attraction!, they both rely on the premise that fundamentally, it is each individuals own ideas and perception of happiness that define what makes a truly good life for that individual. Where positive psychology differs from the law of attraction is that positive psychology is scientifically based, and therefore subject to exhaustive research. Whereas, the law of attraction relays a clear message that you attract what you think. Therefore you can attract positive or negative experiences into your life, simply by the thoughts in your own head.
THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP:
In Marie Kondo’s “the life-changing magic of tidying up,” she delves deep into what is making you hold on to all that clutter. Marie incorporates the KonMari method of decluttering your home, and ultimately, your life. KonMari is a system of sorting through one’s belongings by one specific grouping at a time, touching each individual item at a time to ask the question if the item brings you joy, and then letting go of everything that does not. Then finally, providing a system of organization! for a place for everything and everything in its place. Marie also gets to the hart of why so many people hold on to far too many things and, no matter how craftily they try to disguise it, their homes get consumed with clutter. Hoarding, even in its most miniscule and unintentilal means, is a form of someone’s unhealth attachment to items that they feel holds the bond to specific memories or feelings. Many people hold on to boxes or drawers full of items, such as old photographs, baby clothes, or childrens arts and crafts projects because they feel connected to their children when they were at those young ages. When in fact, the truth is that the memories that one holds of their children can still be experienced and fondly appreciated, despite spending countless hours meandering through a drawer or plastic storage box of various had written cards or ice cream stick reindeer christmas tree ornaments. Marie helps the reader to identify those “emotional” attachments to things, and sort out what truly brings joy into the home. Ulitmately, with a home and a life that is tidy and clutter free, you can enjoy a much less stressful and enjoyable world.
YOU ARE A BADASS:
Jen Sincero will have you laughing and nodding in agreement with her witty writing style and straight forward advice in “You are a Badass.” Jen teaches how to let go of your limiting beliefs and see the true potential that dwells within you. Jen’s whimsical means by which she shows the reader the impact of negative self-talk can have on every aspect of our lives. Self-doubt can invade every decision we make throughout our day in our jobs, relationships, and just about anything we do. At the core of the hilarious tactics in which Jen relays the message, the reader is empowered to stop allowing negative self-talk to invade their choices and embrace the potential they possess. As Jen implores, “It’s just as easy to believe we’re awesome as it is to believe we’re giant sucking things.”
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Life, on purpose! 