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🔊 ”Listen”

Who inspires you?

The author of this fascinating collection of non-fictional stories asked this very question to twenty people, beginning with one author-selected subject, and then following the chain organically by meeting with each interviewee’s inspirational choice in sequence. The result is a wonderful compendium of insights into how we find connection, inspiration and motivation in others, and the impact one individual can have on the life and accomplishments of another.

The sharing of this incredibly diverse set of heart-wrenching stories and the glimpses provided into the worlds of those compelled to take action could not help but make me see the world differently and perhaps, as the author suggests, takes us all one step closer to making our world “a kinder and more connected place”.

Each story is powered by values seen reflected in another and decisions made to honor those values – ranging the gambit from:

-A life devoted to performance and community arts targeted to raise awareness on environmental issues and climate change.

-A lawyer practicing human-rights law affecting the treatment of detainees and asylum seekers

-A nurse who has seen “some things just too powerful to leave you” in her work with malignant melanoma patients.

-A physiotherapist inspired to volunteer in India and the profound influence this had on her life

-A reconciliation worker in Rwanda helping traumatized genocide survivors discover new meaning

-An Episcopal minister providing support, life-skills and hope for abused women on the streets and in prison

It’s impossible not to feel a touch of your own inspiration as you take away this books overarching message of love and hope.

In the words of one of my favourite stories, that of a sixty-six year old female rabbi:

“Once you know, you have to do something, you have to act.

I want to live in a world where we can trust each other and not have to be the same.

I want to respond to what’s in front of me,but I also want to honor those who will come after me, and those who’ve come before me – my mother and those other wise women whose shoulders I stand on.

How do I take what I’ve learned and make space for the next generation and find ways to support them as we continue to fight injustice.

I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

And so are we all.

A great big thank you to the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

My stop on the #Blogtour for #theInterviewChain” @Hhousebooks @Zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #HollandHouse #treats_and_more