Diversify your bookshelf.
What we read, listen do, and watch shapes the way we see the world.
I remember it was 2020. I was in a Zoom room of writers of all kinds. The hour long Writers’ Hour session hosted by London Writers' Salon had just ended and someone in the room who was an educator shared the idea of the need to “decolonize your bookshelf.”
Until that moment I don’t think I was fully aware of what I was reading and how a huge percentage of the books I was reading and was on my shelf were by [old] white men. The popularity of these books made them into the defacto experts, and I never even considered there may be other sources for information. No wonder I couldn’t fully see myself or the world we live in inside.
Ever since that day I’ve paid more attention to the work I’m both reading and sharing. Let it be said, there are so many brilliant white male authors. But there are just as many brilliant female authors, and incredible authors of color. Historically, many of them have slipped under the radar. A range of perspectives makes us all that much richer.
The acknowledgement of this reality is why I wrote the chapter “Diversify your bookshelf” (OVERRIDE! page 157). Since then I’ve made a concerted effort to expand who I’m reading but what I’m reading. I’ve not only shifted gender and background, I’ve opened myself to reading more fiction. I think when we only live in one world and one way of seeing things we limit ourselves. Sometimes I also like to read a book because I know I don’t agree with the author or a review, but I’m curious to read it with my own eyes and make a decision for myself. Diversifying our bookshelf helps remind us that indeed there are OTHER WAYS of seeing the world.
My practice of doodling the books I’ve read over the years also helps me see how the scope of my interests has expanded.
My other pondering is why women tend to read lots of books by men, but how many men are making an effort to read books by women? I know in the podcast world (and suspect it’s true in publishing too), it’s well known that women listen to podcasts by both women and men, but men don’t cross over. Why is that? What would happen if we normalized more cross-pollination?
In a future post I’ll invite you to pay attention to who is cited as an expert in the books you’re reading (start your tallies now!). It’s staggering how many men only cite men as experts, but that’s a post for another day. And yet another reason OVERRIDE! is essential as we open our awareness and acknowledge bias and privilege, as we intentionally invite OTHER WAYS.
In the meantime, here are a few more ways you can connect with me, yourself, and the world at large coming up:
Subscribe to my Connect the Dots Sunday newsletter for inspiration and upcoming workshops.
Reflect + Connect free 30-min journaling sessions Mondays in January. Show up as you are, I’ll provide the prompts (or come free write). Three sessions each Monday. We’ll quietly write and then check out in the chat and set an intention for the week.
CreativeMornings Make a Map! FieldTrip Wed, Jan 28th. We’ll make two maps in one hour. Be sure to bring a banana! 🍌 (This is a creative variation of the Substack workshops I hosted last year.) Free! Limited time replay if you can’t join live. Sign up!
Get ready for the Feb–April cohort of Mapping Your Path: Finding Direction, a three-month creative experience to make time for what matters—and see your path differently. Open possibility for what’s next. Early bird enrollment opens next week. Sign up to be notified when doors open! This round will have a spirit of OVERRIDE! embedded inside.
