Our American daily lives are so busy, the norm is not to make time to check in with your emotions. It’s one of the first things I work with my coaching clients on—creating rituals and routines to make checking in emotionally a part of daily life. It’s through our emotions that we truly know ourselves, what we want, what we care about, how we want to proceed next.
When I worked at the library, patrons would occasionally apologize for their taste in books—especially fiction. As if the only meaningful reading experience is one where you stretch your mind. I always responded that fiction is excellent exercise for our emotions—which need exercise every bit as much as our minds!
I’ve got a winner of a book in the “emotional exercise” category for you. If you’re on Facebook you might have seen my posts about it. It’s The Girl Who Wrote in Silk, by Kelli Estes.
Part historical novel, part contemporary fiction, it’s out in paperback and in audiobook formats, already becoming a Pacific Northwest Bestseller. Click here to access great reviews and book summaries on Amazon. If you liked “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” or “Snow Falling on Cedars,” you’ll love this book. Set on Orcas Island, both in the late 1800’s and present time, the storyline weaves the time periods and characters together in unexpected and moving ways. I say, don’t miss this book!
Tonight I watched the movie The Book Thief for the second time, crying my eyes out. And it came to me what these two works of artful fiction have in common: through the extremity of the circumstances in these stories, what comes into clear focus is the one thing that matters when everything else is at risk, is love. Those bonds between us, like spider’s silk, so tenuous, yet so very strong, are like gold.
We don’t want to have to live those extreme circumstances (war, social excommunication, losing those we love) in order to value the love we have. The gift of drama in stories and movies is stretching our emotions, giving them the workout they need to experience and value our everyday realities fully.
Coach’s Challenge: Recognize your emotions are a muscle. Exercise them. Reading great books and watching great movies serve this purpose. Add reading The Girl Who Wrote in Silk to your to-do list this week. While you’re at it, watch The Book Thief if you haven’t yet. These journeys take you deeper into your own heart, and straight into what really matters to you.