Green sketching opened my eyes to the beauty and joy in my life that I’d never noticed before, beauty and joy that cost nothing to me or the planet. It quietened my busy brain, reduced my anxiety, and made me much more resilient. I’m now trying to help others put down their phones and pick up a pencil. Because when we change what we look at, we can change how we feel. And I’m convinced that once we see and appreciate nature’s beauty with fresh eyes, we’ll start to love and take care of it again.
My book is a beginner’s guide to sketching nature in your own way for your own well-being. It’s an invitation to think about sketching in a completely new way, not as an artistic or educational practice but as a simple and effective tool to help you relax, unwind, and reconnect with nature.
Don’t worry if you can’t draw! The quality of your sketches is irrelevant; it’s the observation that matters and changes how you feel. Blending research, encouragement, and practical exercises, this field guide for joy spotters will transform the way you see your world, helping you find joy and create much-needed calm wherever you are.
This book introduced me to the concept of joy spotting and changed the way I see the world. Well-researched and hugely engaging, I was fascinated to discover why I’m consistently drawn to certain color combinations, patterns, and environments. Full of ‘aha’ moments, I loved connecting the dots (in my case, multi-colored) and clarifying what and where truly brings me joy.
Few books have impacted my life and creativity so much and on such an ongoing basis. But since reading this book, I’ve embraced my love of color throughout my home, garden, and wardrobe and embedded the concept of joy spotting at the heart of my work. I highly recommend it!
Make small changes to your surroundings and create extraordinary happiness in your life with groundbreaking research from designer and TED star Ingrid Fetell Lee.
Next Big Idea Club selection—chosen by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Dan Pink, and Adam Grant as one of the "two most groundbreaking new nonfiction reads of the season!"
"This book has the power to change everything! Writing with depth, wit, and insight, Ingrid Fetell Lee shares all you need to know in order to create external environments that give rise to inner joy." —Susan Cain, author of Quiet and founder of Quiet Revolution
As someone who straddles the sciences and the arts, I devoured this book and loved learning more about why participating in the arts, whether as a creator or a beholder, brings me so much joy.
I had no idea the cells in my heart actively respond to aesthetic stimuli!
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A life-altering journey through the science of neuroaesthetics, which offers proof for how our brains and bodies transform when we participate in the arts—and how this knowledge can improve our health, enable us to flourish, and build stronger communities.
“This book blew my mind!”—Angela Duckworth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit
Many of us think of the arts as entertainment—a luxury of some kind. In Your Brain on Art, authors Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross show how activities from painting and dancing to expressive writing, architecture, and more are essential to our lives.…
I love walking and always go for a joy-spotting ‘doodle walk’ when I need to clear my head or lift my spirits. This fascinating book helped me understand how the humble walk changes my thoughts and perceptions and why it’s so good for my health and well-being.
I no longer miss running and savor my walks more than ever. I highly recommend it if you need a nudge to get outdoors!
'Fascinating ... Connected both to old wisdom and new scientific frontiers of discovery' Lauren Laverne
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'We can all learn something from 52 Ways to Walk. I know I can.' Michael Ball, BBC Radio 2
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Walking strengthens our bodies, calms our minds and lifts our spirits. But it does so much more than this. Our vision, hearing, respiration, sleep, cognition, memory, blood pressure, sense of smell and balance are all enhanced by how we walk. For instance:
* Walking in cold weather burns extra fat and builds more muscle.
* Walking alone strengthens our memories.
* Walking in woodland…
This is one of my favorite joy-spotting books. It’s so engaging and accessible that I’d challenge anyone to read it and not want to try at least one of the activities!
Since reading it the first time, I’ve unearthed my rarely used binoculars (and left their lens caps off), requested an inflatable kayak for my birthday, and now always keep my waterproof trousers by the front door. I’d recommend this to anyone seeking more joy and calm in their life.
We're not just losing the wild world. We're forgetting it. We're no longer noticing it. We've lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing.
But we can make hidden things visible, and this book features 23 spellbinding ways to bring the magic of nature much closer to home.
Mammals you never knew existed will enter your world. Birds hidden in treetops will shed their cloak of anonymity. With a single movement of your hand you can make reptiles appear before you. Butterflies you never saw before will bring joy to every sunny day. Creatures of the darkness…
I hesitate to recommend a book about grief in a list about joy. Yet, although Beth Kempton’s heartbreaking account of losing her mother and friend certainly made me cry, her explanation of the Japanese concept of kokoro left me feeling lighter and wiser.
While incredibly hard to define, kokoro incorporates a sense of tuning into nature’s fleeting beauty, the bittersweetness of love, and the innate wisdom in our hearts. Before listening to this book, I felt self-conscious about my lack of direction and planning. Afterward, I understood that ever since losing my father 12 years ago, I’ve simply been following the whispers of my own kokoro, noticing beauty and joy wherever I can find them and for however long they last.
Kokoro is an invitation to cultivate stillness and contentment in an ever-changing, uncertain world, inspired by ancient and contemporary Japanese wisdom. Drawing on a thousand years of Japanese literature, culture, and philosophical ideas to explore the true nature of time and what it means to be human, Kokoro--which mysteriously translates as "heart-mind"--is a meditation on living well.
Join Japanologist Beth Kempton on this life-changing pilgrimage far beyond the tourist trail, to uncover the soul of the country, its people, and its deeply buried wisdom. Along the way you'll discover a revolutionary way of looking at life and the world that…
When two brothers discover a 300-year-old sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain, it's love at first sight. But 300-year-old cabins come with 300 problems.
Dormice & Moonshine is the true story of an Englishman seduced by Slovenia. In the wake of a breakup, he seeks temporary refuge in his hinterland house, but what was meant as a pitstop becomes life-changing when he decides to stay. Along the way, he meets a colourful cross-section of Slovene society: from dormouse hunters, moonshine makers, beekeepers, and bitcoin miners, to a man who swam the Amazon, and a hilltop matriarch who teaches him the meaning of being 'priden'.
Struggling with Slovene, a language with grammar so complex it can cause brain damage, and battling bureaucracy, he explores the culture and characters of this underappreciated ex-Yugoslav republic, its wild beauty, and its wild animals.
A love letter to Slovenia, this rare, adventurous account follows a foreigner trying to build a new life — and rebuild an old house — in a young country still finding its own place in the world.
'Charming, funny, insightful, and moving. The perfect book for any Slovenophile' - Noah Charney, BBC presenter
'A rollicking and very affectionate tour' - Steve Fallon, author of Lonely Planet Slovenia
'Delivers discovery and adventure...captivating!' - Bartosz Stefaniak, editor, 3 Seas Europe
When two brothers discover a 300-year-old sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain, it's love at first sight. But 300-year-old cabins come with 300 problems.
Dormice & Moonshine is the true story of an Englishman seduced by Slovenia. In the wake of a breakup, he seeks temporary refuge in his hinterland house but what was meant as…
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