Looking back at the books I read at the end of a year is just a way to reflect on how I have grown as a person. I have loved reading since I learned how to at the age of five and have never been without a book since. The books I read show me how my tastes and thoughts have changed, evolved or been confirmed. Here are the ones that will stay with me and you will hear me quote or recommend:
1. Books that synthezied and articulated my beliefs in humanity and how we can do better and be better:
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Ruger Bregman - I have always said that humanity needs a better PR person, someone that will point out that most of us, most of the time, are good. But it's the exceptions that get the coverage. Bregman cites evidence to show that yes, we are capable of commiting atrocities but it takes a lot to get us there.
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant: a manifesto for living a life where we are constantly investigating the truth, with humility, love and compassion. By thinking again, we can open minds and hearts to people and ideas that are different from ours.
High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley - Beware of the binary, embrace the complex, and be detached from your own opinions and ideas. That's how we avoid and get out of bad conflict. And, yes, there is room for good conflict. That's how truth is revealed, when ideas conflict - not people.
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - Creativity is an attribute of God and if we want to grow closer to the divine, we must nuture our creativity. It is a gift to ALL of us, not just a few. Creativity is not just about painting or writing poetry, it's about living a full life.
2. Books that made me ponder my experience as an immigrant:
The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri and The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir by Wayétu Moore. Unplanned, unwanted displacement is traumatizing and it leaves its mark on who we are. I realized that I had not fully acknolwedged the impact of having to leave my birth place as an adolescent. On the other hand, these books made me appreciate the importance of seeing everyone as a human like myself and finding a home wherever I have found friends.
3. Books that changed my mind:
Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion by Wendy Suzuki and Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff - These two books helped me redefine the concepts of self-care, self-love and self-compassion by decentering the self actually.
4. Just good stories that as always connected me with other humans, made me cry, laugh and feel empathy and compassion:
Where We Come From by Oscar Cásares, The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and One Time by Sharon Creech.
5. Books that fed my soul:
'Abdu'l-Bahá is a significant person in my life as a Bahá'í. He was not a prophet but a man who lived a life of service, motivated only by an expansive love for all humanity. This year was the hundreth anniversary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing so I made it a goal to read something by him or about him every morning while I ate breakfast. This quote from Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá summarizes everything he stood for and everything I want to be:
"Know thau of a certainty that Love is the secret of God's holy Dispensation, the manifestaion of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven's kindly light, the Holy Spirit's eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God's revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealth with unfailing and limitless pwer the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this moral world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation."
Many books and artistic tributes to 'Abdu'l-Bahá were released this year. As we were getting close to the actual annivesary of his death, I was reading When the Moon Set Over Haifa by Angelina Diliberto Allen, which tells the stories of those who met 'Abdu'l-Bahá, were transfromed by him and happened to be present when he passed away and witnessed the response of the world to that event.
As I write this reflection and look for the reasons these books stood out in my reading this year, I do see the role of love in all of them. They were written with love, about love and to inspire me to love more. Even books written about horrific events can be written with love and for love. Maybe that should be the criteria for reading, writing, thinking and doing: What would love have us do?
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