Jenne's Reading List | June 2019 | Jenne & Lindsey Co.

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I consistently have 3+ books lying open to my current page around the house. Anybody else?! For whatever reason, I find myself more likely to finish a book if I can bounce around a little between subjects as I go. This week I am sharing the books I’m currently reading.

The War of Art

By Steven Pressfield

This may not be true of all creatives; some are nurtured as such since birth. But for those of us who have to be our own champions in getting our art into the world, it is literally war.

For as long as I can remember, I had an understanding that art wouldn’t pay the bills. Creative pursuits were viewed as a hobby at best, a waste of time at worst. Granted this was before the internet age when e-commerce broadened the horizon for artists and increased the potential of getting paid for their work.

I’m coming to realize that, in spite of my upbringing during the age of the “starving artist” mentality, all the obstacles that currently hold me back from consistently creating are internal. No one is physically stopping me. I’m financially dependent on anyone who is against me pursuing creative endeavors. In fact, my partner is incredibly supportive.

In The War of Art Steven Pressfield gives language to these obstacles with the term resistance. I find comfort in the pages giving commonality to what I often feel in isolation. And I also find hope, that these creative blocks can be broken through.

The Fuck It Diet

By Caroline Dooner

You might be thinking, “I don’t need another diet book in my life”. But I’m here to tell you that everyone who lives in this current day and age needs to read this one.

First of all, it is not a diet. It is the opposite of a diet. Essentially the author is saying “fuck it” to diet/wellness culture that she was consumed with for much of her life.

The premise is that we are born intuitive eaters. We eat when we are hungry, stop eating when we are full, and intuitively know what our body needs and when. Diets and diet/wellness culture screw all that up. You begin to distrust yourself around certain foods, you limit calories, and then wonder why you are low on energy and moving your body physically doesn’t feel good. You also blame yourself when the diet inevitably fails or you fall off the bandwagon.

This book is jam-packed with research that shows that it’s not our fault when diets fail. Diets mimic starvation patterns and when our bodies face starvation, survival mechanisms kick in. We eat somewhat uncontrollably when food is available to us again (whether that unavailability was our own doing or not – our body doesn’t know the difference). The thought that we’ll “be good tomorrow” or our “new diet starts Monday” threatens to take that food away, so WE MUST EAT ALL OF IT NOW!

Things like the BMI chart (created for insurance purposes ONLY) and diet lobbyists keep us from the truth about weight. We really have as little control of it as we do our height. Anxiety about our weight is more likely the cause of the inflammation and high blood pressure that is so damaging to our health. Why continue to perpetuate a society where people are expected to be one-size-fits-all or otherwise are labeled unhealthy?

If you’ve ever questioned whether your worth or overall health lies in the size of your waistline you need to read this book! You may initially gain some weight when you say “fuck it” to all the rules of diet culture (i.e. “don’t eat after 7 pm,” “eat 6 small meals a day,” “carbs are bad,” “thin=healthy”) as your body finds it’s way to your individual genetically set weight point. But you will be amazed at how much more energy, focus, and presence you are capable of when not consumed with making your body smaller.

Women v. Religion

Edited by Karen L. Garst

Over the past year, I’ve allowed myself to shake previous understandings of what it means to be a woman. My eyes have been opened to how much notions of how women should act in the world are a social construct; one that often doesn’t lend itself to each specific woman.

So how did this social construct come to be? Why is there so much pressure on women to be mothers and then to be the “right” kind of mother? Why is it expected that even if both a man and a woman work outside of the home it is still the woman’s responsibility to manage the care of it? Why is it that the stay at home mother is perceived as lazy or having not a care in the world? Why is it that the working mom still has to fight for her voice in the workplace and is perceived as uncaring for the children she has birthed?

This book takes a look at religion as the culprit. I love the concept of this book; a bunch of intelligent women bringing their factual cases to the table. At the end you, the reader, get to decide where you stand. This book was eye opening and informative. Not only is it well written and well documented, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!