Once I realized this was poetry, I could forgive the author for the lack of capitalization (that's the teacher in me!) The book is beautiful. It is almost like therapy. It has a story/poem and then a suggestions for something to do. Some of my favorites were:
Make a list of five good things that you frequently do for other people. Within a two-week period, do them all, at least once, for yourself.
Design and perform a ritual to release something from your life that you love, but htat is no longer serving you. Throw a handful of dandelion seeds out the window of a moving vehicle, or clip a lock of your hair and leave it on your windowsill for the birds to carry away.
The author is a trans female. She is a Chinese Canadian. It was a beautiful opportunity to get a view of her heart and heartaches. It's very honest and vulnerable. In this day and age, this should be required reading. It would be great for a discussion.
Goodreads says:
What happens when we imagine loving the people--and the parts of ourselves--that we do not believe are worthy of love?
A transformative collection of intimate and lyrical love letters that offer a path toward compassion, forgiveness, and self-acceptance.
"Required reading."--Glennon Doyle
Kai Cheng Thom grew up a Chinese Canadian transgender girl in a hostile world. As an activist, psychotherapist, conflict mediator, and spiritual healer, she's always pursued the same deeply personal mission: to embrace the revolutionary belief that every human being, no matter how hateful or horrible, is intrinsically sacred.
But then Kai Cheng found herself in a crisis of faith, overwhelmed by the viciousness with which people treated one another, and barely clinging to the values and ideals she'd built her life around: justice, hope, love, and healing. Rather than succumb to despair and cynicism, she gathered all her rage and grief and took one last leap of faith: she wrote. Whether prayers or spells or poems--and whether there's a difference--she wrote to affirm the outcasts and runaways she calls her kin. She wrote to flawed but nonetheless lovable men, to people with good intentions who harm their own, to racists and transphobes seemingly beyond saving. What emerged was a blueprint for falling back in love with being human.
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