What To Read (Or Listen To) To Feel More Alive: Part 2
Here at Skip the Small Talk, we love to hear stories, learn, and help each other find the answers to our questions as humans. I asked our team of community leads around the country for their favorite books, podcasts, and other sources about what drives and interests us here at STST: connection, vulnerability, relationships, mental health, and storytelling. We’ve put together part two of our list of amazing resources that we have really enjoyed consuming, and have helped or guided us in some way. Give them a read or listen when you have the chance!
3 Podcasts & Apps To Enhance Your Life
1. Just Breakup Podcast hosted by Sam Blackwell & Sierra DeMulder
(Recommended by Online Community Lead, Anna Chaflin)
Just Breakup is a 'relationship advice podcast' but goes so much further than that - in each episode, the hosts answer three listener questions and discuss romance, heartbreak, family, mental health, and beyond. Not only do I love their dynamic and rapport, but I also figured it was a great recommendation for anyone who's interested in Skip the Small Talk because... they do!... and dive right into the meaty topics. The hosts thoughtfully chat through advice, stories, and musings related to so many different topics regarding human connection. Between the letter writers and the conversations that follow, it feels like such a unique window into other perspectives, relationships, and how they move through the world - and all the while, also super validating as you hear how others' stories relate might to your own. Available wherever you get your podcasts (Spotify, Apple, etc.)
2. We Can Do Hard Things hosted by Glennon Doyle, Amanda Doyle, and Abby Wombach
(Recommended by NYC Community Lead, Sarah Nemetz)
Glennon Doyle is a bestselling author, with her most recent and most popular titled book “Untamed” where she talks about her real-life experience of questioning and breaking open the confines of her own life. She teams up with her sister and her wife to talk about processing and doing all of the hard things. Topics range from knowing when to quit something, parenting and empowering your kids to live courageous lives, sex and orgasms, and more. It’s all about asking the questions to find out who you are, and where you should go from there - at ANY stage of life.
3. Waking Up, a mindfulness app
(Recommended by Providence Community Lead, Erin Perfect)
I've found this app to be incredibly helpful. There are sessions that are only a few minutes long which are great in moments of acute anxiety and longer sessions for when I have time to practice meditation. There are a variety of teachers/guides with different approaches to mindfulness, so it's not hard to find a perspective that feels helpful and supportive. There is a free 30-day trial, no credit card is needed, and people who feel they can't financially afford to pay a fee, can receive a free annual subscription.
8 Books To Enhance Your Life - Print & Audio
1. Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown
(Recommended by Portland Community Lead, Lexi Totten)
In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection. Over the past two decades, Brown’s extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as on Brown’s singular skills as a storyteller, to show us how accurately naming an experience doesn’t give the experience more power– it gives us the power of understanding, meaning, and choice. Brown shares, “I want this book to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves.”
2. The Courage to be Disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi
(Recommended by Boston Community Lead, Jennifer Galvao)
This book discusses the Japanese phenomenon of releasing ourselves from the need for external approval and is written as a conversation between a philosopher and a young person. It’s a really awesome and simple read.
3. All About Love by bell hooks
(Recommended by Boston Community Lead, Jennifer Galvao)
This book explores the age-old question "what is love?" and discusses that love transcends far past platonic or romantic relationships and how we are all interconnected but not provided with a model for how to learn love properly.
4. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
(Recommended by NYC Community Lead, Sarah Nemetz)
This is a beautiful and heartbreaking memoir by a Korean-American woman who tells the story of her and her mother, their complex relationship, and how food was the tool used to show love interwoven throughout. It has so much insight into the complicated mother-daughter relationship, particularly between children of immigrants and their mothers. I absolutely loved this book.
5. Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion by Wendy Suzuki
(Recommended by NYC Community Lead, Sarah Nemetz)
Anxiety is something so many struggle with and think of as a burden. In this book, a neuroscientist explains how we may be able to harness our anxiety and turn it into a superpower instead of something we’re always trying to get rid of.
6. How Emotions are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett
(Recommended by Providence Community Lead, Erin Perfect)
As a person who likes to understand how and why things happen, I found this book helpful. Although it is about neuroscience, Barrett also encourages different ways of relating to emotions, which can help reduce anxiety and increase general understanding of how and why we, and people around us, react the way we do in different situations.
7. The Attention Merchants by Tim Wu
(Recommended by Matt Brooks, Expansion and Venue Manager)
A fantastic (though also chilling) dive through the history of continuously splitting our attention for profits. While it can be a daunting read, the hope is that it can make one more aware of the immense steps the "attention economy" has taken in recent years and how to live well despite it.
8. Anything by author Michael Adrian Green
(Recommended by Matt Brooks, Expansion and Venue Manager)
This is a good friend's favorite author for poetry and overall social media presence. I have the collection titled Love Language and it's, fittingly, lovely!
What other books, podcasts, apps, or more might you add to this list to enhance your life?
Also, check out Sam’s post about tools and resources for coping with post-COVID re-entry anxiety for more recommendations.