Reading to SparcK your life!

Another year and time to reflect back on books or articles that took up space in my limited “free” time.  I love reading as it often sparks insight and creative ideas for bringing about the changes I want to see in my world.  Or…has me seeing the world from someone else’s perspective and broadens life understanding.

Bill Johnson’s (TheDreamDean) SparcK model for designing a life of purpose and meaningful work provides a lens for me to see where my choices for reading fit in my life planning.  SparcK starts with S for Story…past ups and downs with strengths and challenges, P for looking to life purpose, A for aspirations, and R is for Reflection. Shedding light on my story to build a stronger future through reflection and critical thinking, here are a few books considered at the top of my list. Perhaps you’ll enjoy some of these too!

1. Being vulnerable and loving myself, imperfections and all: Brene´ Brown’s Rising Strong was a great follow-up to two other insightful books – Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly.  Listening to Brene´ read her own book was a treat since she shared more of her personal journey as well.  Applying it to my life means paying more attention to how I show up in a situation and taking risks of vulnerability to infuse my relationships with more authenticity. Worth the time to start with Gifts of Imperfection  and Daring Greatly for deeper personal work, although Rising Strong does provide summary reviews of both.
2. Creative living – outside the box aspiration approach: Elizabeth Gilbert’s new release this year was Big Magic, which is a delightful exploration of where and how creative ideas find us and where life is breathed into them to share with the world.
3. Life purpose and aspirations: Derek Rydall offers a view through Emergence is about the unfolding of who we are created to be and what we are here to do with our lives. Logical and easy to use 7 stage framework provides an easy tool for life planning.
4. Outside the box thinking of our world:  Blue Mind by Wallace J Nichols with a forward by Celine Cousteau immerses the reader into a fascinating and multi-faceted look at our inherent connection to water.