I have loved reading ever since I was a wee girl and my mom taught me to sound out the words on the pages of my picture books as I prepared for kindergarten.
I moved quickly from Dick & Jane on to The Littles, then to Ramona Quimby and Nancy Drew, and later from Judy Blume to the Sweet Valley High series. I even loved reading my mom's magazines as a kid: there was always a copy of Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, or Woman's Weekly floating around, and I'd read those cover-to-cover too.
Once I got to university however, there was no time between classes, studies and waitressing to read anything but my business textbooks. For years afterward - scarred by the forced immersion into a world of 'required reading' that I found far from captivating - I couldn't bring myself to crack the cover of anything more intense than a People magazine.
Shortly after I finished university came my young-child-rearing phase, which began with What To Expect When You're Expecting and was followed by a few years of Today's Parent & Parenting magazines, because who in the heck has time for a full-on book when you're raising a toddler? (And I only have one child. I bow deeply to those of you with multiple kidlets.)
As my son got older I was able to reclaim more and more book time back, and my love of reading was reignited. For the last decade, my night table and bookshelves have been filled mostly with personal development books, dappled by the occasional appearance of a fiction-just-for-fun book (which may or may not have even happened if it weren't for the book club I was part of from 2007 - 2012. Thanks, Chicklits!) From the mind-body connection and ways to live well, to spirit, self-care and finding your purpose, I've been a book junkie for most of my adult life.
Introducing....
I often find myself sharing my favourite books with people who are looking for sources of wisdom and inspiration on various subjects, so today, I've published a new page on my website to help you with just that: come on over and check out Kelly's Bookshelf, another resource to help you create a life you love.
This collection will always be growing, and if you're on my mailing list, you'll be sure to know when I add to the Bookshelf because I'll mention it in my weekly newsletter.
Reading great books is a good place to start creating the kind of life you want, and I keep my favourites on my bookshelf because I find it valuable to go back and re-read them (or favourite sections of them) from time to time to refresh my memory.
As much as I LOVE reading, there's one thing I've learned about books:
You can read a THOUSAND personal/business-development and self-help books - and you’ll absorb amazing things and glean beautiful insights - but it’s only when you take definitive action and put those principles into practice that the MAGIC and MIRACLES start to happen.
You can read all about 'the seven steps to this' and 'the five ingredients to that', but until you actively do those steps and blend those ingredients into your daily life, you're barely skimming the surface of what's possible for you. The best way I've discovered to really integrate the wisdom of these great reads into your life is by creating a practice around the principles that you want to live and love by.
That's why I'm super-excited about my next project. It's an action and integration program that's founded on one of my favourite books on my Bookshelf, The Joy Diet by Martha Beck. Grab yourself a copy today if you want to get a head-start on this incredible 'diet for the soul', and stay tuned for a special announcement next week about the program (it starts at the end of April) and why it's a foundational step for creating a life you love. (And for heaven's sake, get yourself on my mailing list if you don't want to miss the news!)