What Can Your Bookshelf Tell You About Yourself?

I’m a journalist, writer, producer and director. I leave the door open to that world, yet I have a new focus: Wellness.

The deeper I dive into my wellness coaching certification training, the more fascinated I am by the subject matter. This is a space where I feel at home.

I should have known this sooner, if I would have only looked at my bookshelf and asked the question, “What do you see?” 

Then, “What is it the owner of these books most wants to learn about, read about, find?”

If I would have asked these questions, I may have had some clarity sooner. 

Does your bookshelf or audible library tell a story about you that you might not have brought to a conscious level?

Q: What do you see?

Q: What is it the owner of these books most wants to learn about, read about, find?

Intuition asks me to look at my bookshelf. 

She asks me which conversation topics light me up. 

She asks me what movement has meant to me in my life.

She asks me what environments and activities bring flow.

She asks about the stories I share and how I shine a light on others.

In the world of hard news, which I covered my fair share of, I also pitched and/or covered stories not only about the resilience of Olympic athletes (I love this type of storytelling), but also shinrin-yoku (forest bathing). 

…And a snowy winter wonderland converted into a snow-shoeing medicine trail. 

…The curative benefits of gathering as a community on the cobblestones of a mountain hamlet to enjoy polenta and red wine and friendship.

…The powerful strides women have made in the world of boxing.

… Students from one high school hosting students from an earthquake-devastated region….building bonds and mending grief-stricken hearts.

The list goes on. 

Books about discipline, drive and defiance stand like soldiers alongside books with pages that take a different approach on how to educate, empathize, evoke, evolve. Pages that empower me to build wealth stand alongside pages that invoke imagination, creativity, health, sound body and mind and how to embrace imperfection.

These books all complement each other. I just had to stand somewhere else to see it.

What does your bookshelf want to tell you?