The fifteen months of COVID restrictions are behind us. Hurray for the vaccine! Experts say it is effective against the new strains also. In the midst of grief for the loss of loved ones, or the loss of jobs for many--I read that every COVID death leaves behind nine sorrowful people, which means, currently the U.S. harbors five million grieving individuals--there's a ray of hope.
During downtime I participated via Zoom in a Just Faith training workshop at Episcopal Church. The following semester I went through a similar training with Unitarian Universalists through its Beloved Conversations workshops. What I learned gave me the idea for a discussion group via Zoom, where participants and guests discuss books they have found helpful or inspiring. We are on hiatus over the summer but in early September will meet again Monday evenings, twice a month, with two presenters per meeting.
We have covered anti-racism books Caste and So You Want to Talk About Race and the novel American Dirt. We learned from books on trauma like Writing Into the Wound by Roxane Gay and The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger. We heard about Buddhism via The Book of Joy and What Makes You Not a Buddhist. Gender diversity discussions came to us via Redefining Realness.
For September I'd like to expand the group to extend an invitation to anyone of you, along with spouses, significant others, etc. Discussions are in the pipeline of The Secret Life of Groceries, Nomadland, and Where the Crawdads sing.
Drop me a line if you want to try it. I'd love it if you'd like to discuss a book, but it's enough to love books and want to hear about more of them. Many participants are unable to be there every time, and that's ok, too.