What I’m Reading: How to be loving
Last Fall I received an email from Danielle LaPorte about her new book, How to Be Loving: As Your Heart Is Breaking Open and Our World Is Waking Up. My response was “yes, I need this,” so I pre-ordered the book right away.
When it came, I saw how thick it was and immediately thought about all the other books on our bookshelves. But, I knew this one was different.
Actually, I ordered two copies of this book, one for me and one to give away. After only 10 days of reading a chapter a day, I gave the second copy to my best friend. This book is truly a treatise on how to heal your Inner Child with love, so you can live your best life. Every day I read a chapter and record the gems of wisdom I receive in my special journal that I set up just for this book.
A little more information from her publisher:
A heart centered life is a reflective life, and when we live more reflectively, we operate less reactively. With her signature relatability, Danielle LaPorte turns self-help right side out. “Don’t try to life hack your way through fear–that only creates more fear.” And stop suppressing your ego: “It will put up a fight, but the ego just wants to be loved–integrated, not segregated.”
The bestselling author explains why self-acceptance is counterculture, how virtues can turn into dangerous vices, and why healing is a nonlinear process that leads to gentleness. The most liberating message might be, “We don't need to focus on ‘fixing’ ourselves. As we focus on living from our heart center, anything that’s not in alignment with that light will fall away.”
Designed with reflective practices and inspirational mini posters, the tone is calm and steady, but there’s an urgency to this content. “The heart-mind is our greatest and often most neglected form of intelligence," teaches Danielle. “There’s no polarization in the heart space. It can hold fear and compassion, shadow and light–yours and theirs. We’re yearning to come into balance with love. It’s the antidote to polarization.”
LaPorte examines the misidentifications that cause suffering and helps us identify with our Divine Nature. “You are not the wound. You're the healer.” Her wisdom is relief in anxious times.
Ladies, I buy a LOT of books. I’ve read a LOT of spiritual books, hoping for something to heal my broken heart and guide me on a better way to live. And now I've found some relief. By applying the rituals and healing tools that Danielle shares, I am healing myself a little every day. My favorite passage so far is “The Wound-to-Healing Sequence.”
Brilliant and Magical and so, so Healing . . . Thank you, Danielle!
