The Art of Showing Up

Adult nonfiction

    "Showing up is what turns the people you know into your people.  It's at the core of creating and maintaining meaningful bonds with friends, family, coworkers, and Internet pals.  Showing up is the act of bearing witness to people's joy, pain, and true selves; validating their experiences; easing their load; and communicating they are not alone in this life."

     As Rachel Wilkerson Miller tells readers in her The Art of Showing Up, a lot of people are feeling alone in this life.  Many of us move a lot and maybe have the adult equivalent of standing in a school cafeteria desperately scanning for a friendly face every few years.  Sometimes even if we stay in the same place life transitions can be jarring.  Newly minted professionals can find marriage and the arrival of children thinning out their crowd.  As Miller points out, once we get past childhood and teens making friends can be hard.

     If you want to make new friends but aren't sure how to go about the process The Art of Showing Up can be a valuable read.  It builds from basics (What do you want in a new friend?  Where can you find potential chums?) to more complicated scenarios (How should you handle conflict?  What do you say to a friend who loses a beloved companion animal?).  It has a lot of advice on putting down the devices many of us use as primary means of communication and stepping out into the real world.

     But that's in the second part.  Miller asserts that you can't show up for others until you show up for yourself.

     "Self-knowledge is at the core of showing up because you can't possibly take care of yourself if you don't actually know what your needs are.  Once you figure out who you are (and who you are not), it becomes much easier to understand what you want to do (and not do), and to recognize the types of people you want in your life (and those you don't)."

     So who should read this book?  I think just about all of us.  I know I found lots of helpful advice.  I also believe that the emphasis on knowing and taking care of yourself before reaching out to others is spot on.

On a purrrsonal note, I was going to the bookstore to look for something practical I need for what I'm planning for the blood drive canteen activity for (Yikes!) next week.  I saw an adorable cat squishy beanie.  Pretty.  Must have.  But it wasn't expensive and I have been working hard on my internship.  So I treated itself.  (Jules)

As well she should.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our hard working Bookstore friends.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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