3 Books to Inspire Your Journey to Clarity

Clarity is a quiet kind of beauty. Without it, life blurs into a foggy haze…confusion reigns, choices feel heavy, and every step is uncertain. But when clarity arrives, it’s like light cutting through the fog. You recognize your path, your purpose steadies, and your mind, heart, and spirit fall into harmony. With clarity, the air feels lighter…and you can breathe.

I’ve been writing about some of the things we can do to gain clarity for any situation. If you missed it, find it HERE and HERE.

I’m always looking for inspiration for my journey, to find more joy, inner peace and clarity. I often find inspiration in books.  I’m a book lover, a book collector.  And I’ve recently found a beautifully written book that I found very useful and I’d like to share it with you: Outer Chaos, Inner Calm: Your Practical Guide to Clarity in a World of Chaos, by Anthony Abbagnano,the founder of Alchemy of Breath.  It's an inspirational companion for your journey to your most vibrant life, a guide to self-understanding, to greater resilience and to deep transformation...with Anthony as your guide.

When I began to read it, I was expecting a book about breathing practices, since that is what the author is known for.  But it was so much more.  I was surprised by the depth and the compassion inspired by his experience.  It’s so rich with insights and ideas that it took me a while to read to the end, thinking about what each chapter offered for my own journey.  And I feel this would be a supportive book to come back to again and again. 

The book follows the structure of the “hero’s journey” as outlined by Joseph Campbell.  Joseph Campbell had a theory that all the great historical stories and myths shared a common pattern, a journey of an archetypal hero. He outlined the 17 stages of his hero's journey in The Hero With A Thousand Faces (1949) which has inspired writers and cineastes ever since. The stages he identified can also be used as a roadmap for personal growth.  This resonated strongly with me as I wrote about it a couple of years ago, 18 Practices to Support Your Personal “Hero’s” Journey (find it HERE).  

In Outer Chaos, Inner Calm, Anthony offers thoughtful wisdom, profound reminders and deeply insightful practices for each of 12 stages on the hero’s journey, laid out in 12 chapters.  From answering the call to your own adventure, to facing resistance and challenges along the way, finding mentors and allies, and finally sharing what you learn on your journey…. The book is kind of like a road map through life.  

There is one practice I’d like to share, this is from the very first chapter of the book, where your journey starts by stepping into the past.  Anthony invites you to write your biography through the lens of 7 year cycles, in any form you like (paragraphs, bullet-points, mind map) writing memories, reflections and insights. It means digging for pieces of your past that you may have buried deep in your mind. It means being radically honest, and also very self-compassionate. By digging far into the past, this practice will help you to understand who you are in the present.  You can come back to your biography again and again, reviewing and updating with new thoughts and memories.  This exercise helps you to get crystal clear about who you are, what you are devoted to and why it matters.

Life is hard.  But despite all the challenges you face along the way, you keep showing up.  Despite the fear, the resistance, the doldrums, the road blocks, you are still doing the work and moving forward towards a vibrant, purposeful life.  We can all use a little help along the way.  Perhaps this book will hold some wisdom for you.  I invite you to check it out. 

Two more books I’ve found inspiring this summer are these…

The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin. 

This is a unique gem of a book with 78 areas of thought to bring clarity to your creative journey.  With ideas about the mindset, the perspective, the intention, the process and even the spiritual aspect of being creative, it’s a book about how to BE a creative person.  And it brings light to finding a sense of direction and meaning to any creative journey.  These 78 nuggets of wisdom can be taken at random, one a day for example, to stoke the imagination that your third eye chakra represents.  You can also re-read them and still find something new to think about.  

Joyfull: Cook Effortlessly, Eat Freely, Live Radiantly, by Radhi Devlukia-Shetty.  

It’s no secret that wellness (healthy food, good sleep, soul-inspiring practices…) is an effective way to cultivate clarity. And this is a cookbook to inspire and sustain your wellness journey.  I read this book from cover to cover.  Not only does it offer 125 delicious plant-based recipes, Radhi also shares her own wellness practices including her revitalizing morning skincare routine, ancient rituals to nourish and strengthen your hair, meditations and prayers for staying present, and breathwork that will carry you through each phase of the day.