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A review by labyrinth_witch
The Seven Circles by Chelsey Luger
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
As with most anything, motivation is key. While it may look like it took me nearly two years to read this book, I unfortunately started it when I was very fatigued of self-help books. I picked it back up this December because I was thinking about goals. I had done an analysis of four years of goals settings exercises done over the course of 8 years, and suddenly I felt bereft. Was this it? These goals that’s kept showing up, was this what was really important to me? I have been reading much indigenous literature over the past several years, but listening to Collins and Luger’s podcast I was struck by their statement that Americans know how to practice ill-being but not well-being. So I pulled out this book to try to orient myself to a new perspective on “goals” for the coming year. In truth, I finished it in four days- and that only because we had a lot going on so I couldn’t continuously read it.
First, this book, while part of the wellness genre, is much less self-help than one might expect. It does provide a graphic at the end of each chapter showing how each circle intersects with all the other circles along with suggestions for how to nourish this aspect in your own community with a “Learn-Engage-Optimize” section. However, what was most refreshing to me was the model and concept of wellness. For those of us steeped in capitalism, it’s difficult to wrap one’s mind around. But I find value in attempting to do so, despite the sensation of my world tilting on its axis. For my goal setting purposes, I was half way through chapter 4 when I realized with a start that there is no “work/career” circle in the model. If one reads white-oriented self-help enough (of which I have read hundreds), career is always front and center. In this model it is not. It took me a day or so to work through this revelation and come to some insights as to the impact of it not being centered. I’m curious- if you’ve read it, what shifted for you?
First, this book, while part of the wellness genre, is much less self-help than one might expect. It does provide a graphic at the end of each chapter showing how each circle intersects with all the other circles along with suggestions for how to nourish this aspect in your own community with a “Learn-Engage-Optimize” section. However, what was most refreshing to me was the model and concept of wellness. For those of us steeped in capitalism, it’s difficult to wrap one’s mind around. But I find value in attempting to do so, despite the sensation of my world tilting on its axis. For my goal setting purposes, I was half way through chapter 4 when I realized with a start that there is no “work/career” circle in the model. If one reads white-oriented self-help enough (of which I have read hundreds), career is always front and center. In this model it is not. It took me a day or so to work through this revelation and come to some insights as to the impact of it not being centered. I’m curious- if you’ve read it, what shifted for you?