Scribe 2020
147 pages Self-Help
This little hardback book of wisdom came while I was reading
Get
Your Life Back for my church book group. Stark has formulated a series
of beautiful meditations to help those of us who are dealing with all kinds of anxieties,
both real and existential. I used several of the pages as I led the group. Here
is the writeup.
“This is a self-care
manual for the days when you feel alone — the days when you worry that you’re
too weird or broken or unfixable to be normal. With compassion, humour, and
honesty, Jill offers signposts to help you find the path back to yourself. Whether
you’re having a bad day, or a run of bad days that seems never-ending, When You’re Not OK is an emotional
first-aid kit for your body, mind, and soul, written by someone who’s been
there too.”
Some of the writings are a page or two, some a paragraph, some
just a sentence. They all cause the reader to pause and regroup. Many of the
bits of advice are similar to those of Eldridge in Get Your Life Back,
but Stark is very concise. Her meditations could be read during the “one minute
pause.”
Here is a lovely page. “Dance. Like no one’s watching. Whenever you can. Wherever you can. It’s good for the body, but more importantly, it’s good for the soul. Dance the way you did when you were a kid. Cut loose. Let your body move whichever way feels comfortable. Just dance.”
The other day, I picked up my grandchildren to bring them to my
house for afternoon online school. My 9-year-old granddaughter was frantically
trying to gather up her things, plus the things she wanted to play with. My
8-year-old grandson couldn’t get his shoes and socks on. Their mom had to get
back online to teach her next class. Everyone huffed and puffed out of the
house, with my granddaughter yelling at her brother. When we got in the car, I stopped, calmed myself, and then demonstrated
deep breathing for them, and told them how to
pause to get things better. Then I said, “It will take us about 5 minutes to
get back to Grandma’s house. We are not going to talk on the car ride, and you
are going to practice deep breathing. When we get to the house, everything will
be ok." Sure enough, the children bounded out of the car, set up their computers
for afternoon school, and everything was calm, peaceful, and happy.
The Library Journal review says that When You’re Not OK
is a “handy, feel-good volume of tips and advice for contented living.” It
would be a delightful stocking stuffer for a dear friend or family member.
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