On the bookshelf in my office sits a miniature Volkswagen Bus. I bought it when I had a corporate desk job to remind me that I can run away if I really want to. Invariably, I would feel wanderlust, google the cost of a cool bus, realize I didn’t have the money for a sound piece of machinery and then choose against running away as it would likely be spent broken-down on the highway. I didn’t love what I did for a living, but it was better than hitchhiking.
Well now my job is better than dream-life in a van and I don’t need the reminder to stay employed. I just genuinely enjoy talking to all of you and seeing you be kinder to yourself. So I have repurposed my friend the VW and it now serves as the dividing line between the books I am reading and the books I have read. Moving a book from one side of the van to the other is a big moment. It’s a big moment because I finished a dang book, but it also takes a special book to get me to read to the end. Therefore! As an act of accountability, and to support the continued work of writers I clearly enjoy, I’m going to start telling you about the books that manage to make it to the Other Side of the Bus.
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself was an excellent, delightful and thought-provoking read on the art and science of boundary setting. This book offers very approachable definitions of what a boundary looks like, where we need them, how to set them, and what happens when people don’t care that we have. You need this knowledge for your relationships with spouses, family, work, school, and yourself. I got through it initially in a few hours and then had to read it a couple times more just to let the information soak into my bones. You can feel the peace wash over you just imagining yourself setting better boundaries. But she doesn’t leave to just imagine, she gives you real work applications that give you a little panicky feeling because you know you have to do them, but they are small enough to feel achievable. Good for anyone who struggles with telling people no or letting them in altogether.