The most life-changing, world-rocking books

Reading this book helped me change my life for the better. Putting Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings into practice in my daily life helped me live a more mindful, more peaceful life at a time of great transition in my personal life.

One of the things I love the most about this book is how simple it is to incorporate its practices into daily life. There are sections on how to be mindful about washing dishes or answering the phone! There are also sections that went much deeper, which dealt with how to be mindful of my emotions, which I have found so valuable in dealing with anxiety, difficult situations, and fear.

One of my favorite experiences related to this book was guiding a group of middle school-age kids through a discussion inspired by the “Tangerine Meditation.” Instead of a tangerine, we considered a piece of paper and talked about the origins of the piece of paper – the tree, the sun and rain that nourished the tree, the animals that lived in the forest, the person whose job it was to cut the tree, the people who worked at the paper mill, the person who drove the truck to the store where we bought the paper, etc., until one boy raised his hand and said, “I get it! We’re all connected!” It was a beautiful moment I treasure the memory of, which I would not have been inspired to be part of without this book.

It spoke to my heart. It opened up a world of spirit and intuition, of love and grace that I had never connected with before. Discovering this book was like discovering a new and deep friendship.

The book read like poetry. It provided inspiration in my life at a time when I was new to spiritual seeking. I was so inspired by its words and insight that I typed up pages of quotes I wanted to remember. It felt as if it spoke to a wisdom deep within me and called it to awaken.

I’ve gone on to love other books written by John O’Donohue, but Anam Cara will always be my favorite.    

What a world-rocking, mind-blowing journey reading Skinny Legs and All was! I read it in my twenties, and it truly was life-changing. It is imaginative and thought-provoking. It expanded my perspective on life and what might be happening right in front of my eyes that I’m missing with my limited imagination.

It’s wickedly funny and irreverent and yet addresses difficult issues that are relevant today, such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The storytelling is so unique, I’ve never read another book like it. It’s a book that leaves me envying someone else’s first read of it.

It also served as a source of inspiration for me as an author many years later. There was a scene in the movie Finding Forrester, where a young writer (Rob Brown) is facing writer’s block. His instructor (Sean Connery) suggests he start typing the content of a book he loves word for word to get his fingers moving on the keyboard until his own words take over. I used this exercise when I began writing a novel many years later, and it was Skinny Legs and All that I began typing before my own words took over.

Content warning: there are storylines with sexual content.

I have found so many of Mary Oliver’s poems to be inspirational and thought-provoking that I could call any of Mary Oliver’s poetry collections life-changing. Her ability to be present in nature, to hold both the beauty and the sorrow found in nature in a few lines of a poem and invite me as the reader to hold them both in my heart, is astounding.

Hearing her read “When I am Among the Trees” from this collection makes my heart sing! Listening to “At the Pond” makes my heart ache for one small goose every time. One of my favorite lines from any of her poems, “Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed,” is found in this collection as well, in “It Was Early”. 

I chose this one specifically because it is an audio recording rather than a book. There is something so heart-opening about listening to a poet read their own poems. As a bonus, I have found this collection to be very calming to listen to when stuck in traffic!

This book was released at a time of great personal reflection for me. I was involved with an organization called Coming To the Table, through which I was learning more about the legacy of enslavement in the United States. Dr. McGowan’s book provides an opportunity for deep listening to the experiences of a Black woman in America. The words and experiences were challenging to sit with because of the depth of the pain, but that is what deep listening is about, being able to be still with what I am hearing and do my best to be with it. 

The poems in this collection allowed me to take a glimpse into Dr. McGowan’s life for a short time and feel the darkness she is surrounded by in our country simply because of the color of her skin. It was not an easy or comfortable experience to read i am the rage. Poems like “A Shocking New Race War,” “Traffic Stop,” and “America, Something Is Wrong” held up mirrors for self-reflection.

The poem “Human Enough,” along with others, sheds light on the awful fear that Black parents face wondering, “Will my child be human enough/To return to me unharmed.” The hard truth of that statement was heartbreaking.

 Dr. McGowan is a physician who has spent her career helping woman heal and give birth. Whether it was her intention or not, i am the rage gave me an opportunity to give birth to a more empathetic heart and to be able to empathize with the experiences of a Black woman in the United States. Through her eloquence and unflinching voice, she speaks truths I need to hear. And who better than a physician to remind us that a wound can’t be healed if it isn’t first seen and cleaned. This book, provides a glimpse into the deep wounds inflicted upon African Americans and the pain those unhealed wounds continue to cause.

Content warning: some of the poems in i am the rage deal with difficult subject matter that may be triggering for some individuals.