Embrace Our Detours with READS, LISTENS, LOOKS...& bonus Detourist tools
Now, more than ever, is time to embrace our detours.
A detourist looks for the upside of obstacles. And right now…there are many obstacles to navigate. So how do we find our way through this uncharted territory?
“Allow the world to vanish when you go into it. To listen is to search for new opportunities, to seek fresh challenges. The most important book you can read is the one about yourself. It is open.” Erling Kagge, Silence: In the Age of Noise
Here’s some fresh Detourist inspiration for you: 10 BONUS DETOUR FRESH PICKS. Ready?
1. Savor the extra daylight: Amy’s “BALLOON TRICK”
Lately, I’ve found that with the extra time I have it’s a beautiful time to be outside and watch spring happen day by day!
As you observe nature, notice your breath in and out. Imagine your head is a balloon filled with buoyant, light air. Your neck is a nimble, squiggly string, being lifted off your shoulders.
Notice how much lighter your head feels! Often, we think so much that our heads can weigh us down. Today, have balloon-head in mind, and feel the happy sensations of your thoughts vanishing into thin air!
2. BEST BOOK ON TAPE FOR WALKING!
Sometimes as I’m walking, I’ve been listening to the sounds around me – birds, air whirling by, my footsteps – or a great book.
For anyone that knows me, I love walking. I can walk outside for hours, look at the trees around me, feel the concrete below me, and have time to be with whatever is, right here, right now.
Finally, I found a book that I feel is speaking right to the spirit of Walking!
Check out “Walking” by Erling Kragge. This book is all about what walking does for our minds, bodies, souls, hearts, and our world.
“We do have enough time. Life is long, if we listen to ourselves often enough, and look up.”
- Erling Kagge
3. FIND A GOOD FICTION READ and Detour into another world!
Another book to check out that I’ve just started: The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
Don’t let the title fool you – this is not a self-help book. It’s a great fiction story!
“A lonely, aging artist decides to write his painfully honest life story in a plain green notebook. When he leaves it in the local café for a stranger to find, it sets off a cascade of journal entries from others in the neighborhood and leads to unexpected connections.”
4. A beautifully written GRAPHIC MEMOIR…Detourist pick!
If you're into graphic novels...or love great memoirs but don't think graphic novels are for you, check out Are You My Mother?
And no, it's not the children's book by PD. Eastman you might be thinking of. This is a "Comic Drama" - a graphic memoir written and illustrated by Alison Bechdel. The book is a companion piece to her earlier work, Fun Home. While Fun Home dealt with Bechdel's relationship with her father, Are You My Mother? is about her relationship with her mother.
"Poignantly, hilariously, Bechdel embarks on a quest for answers concerning the mother-daughter gulf…fragile and real-time, that will move and astonish all adult children of gifted mothers."
5. Funniest PODCAST to listen to!
And if you're looking for something funny to listen to, check out Justin Long's "Life is Short" podcast. First of all, Justin is funny, sharp, insightful, and a great conversationalist. He interviews some equally hilarious people like Jim Gaffigan and Judy Greer, and you have to check out the episode where he interviews his 102-year-old grandmother! He does the intro event episode with his brother Christian, and the topics they cover will get your mind off of anything that's troubling you.
Check it out here: https://wondery.com/shows/justin-long/
6. Check out a virtual BOOK CLUB discussion!
Because we are all practicing “social distancing “right now, I've postponed my author programs and book club discussions for "My Beautiful Detour: An Unthinkable Journey from Gutless to Grateful."
The good news is, I'm now offering video book discussions! So if you'd like to be part of a "My Beautiful Detour" book party, just send me a note at lovemydetour@gmail.com and you'll be part of the Detourist Zoom Call Book Club! Spots are filling up, so register today!
7. Watch some BROADWAY THEATRE!
No description needed here – check out 15 Broadway Plays and Musicals You Can Watch On Stage From Home – although nothing replaces live theatre, admittedly. But that will come back soon enough!
8. FIND OUT something NEW every day!
Another site to keep you well-informed and entertained? http://www.todayifoundout.com/ If you subscribe, every day you'll learn something really fascinating!
9. Find CREATIVITY & GRATITUDE…
My latest book, “Creativity & Gratitude: Exercises and Inspiration for a Year of Art, Hope, and Healing” is also up for preorder! This is a workbook designed to give you a year of creative inspiration with prompts, ideas and exercises that have helped me along my own personal detours – and I can’t wait to share them with you.
10. BREATHE.
Here’s a TOP SECRET TIP – each time you plant your feet in the here and now, take a deep inhale, followed by an…exhale…you’ll discover something new. Try it and see.
Every moment is a chance for a new beginning.
So start here and now.
All of these resources will give you joy…and Hope.
Hope is fuel that gets you through a detour, but sometimes hope is hard to find.
Years ago, around surgery #10 or 11, doctors discharged me from the hospital with no hope of when or if I’d ever be able to eat or drink again.
So I made fake countdowns on my wall - 7 days till can eat again, 6, 5, 4...and when I got to zero, I started it over again...for six years.
Don’t wait for hope to dawn on you in a beam of light. A Detourist needs to create his own hope.
So today, take a breath, exhale and start a new day. And tell me what you discover!
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
-thich nhat hanh, Stepping into Freedom: Rules of Monastic Practice for Novices
Hope you enjoy my 10 new tools for Detourists!
Remember - A detourist embraces those unexpected routes as opportunities for growth, change and self-fulfillment.
As a detourist, I look for the upside of obstacles. I welcome the unexpected change in my “thought-out” life, and see what opportunities may arise.
So how can you start “loving” your detour?”
Here are six little tips on getting started…
1. Savor the element of surprise. Straight paths are boring.
2. Find one beautiful flower along the path and name it after the detour that led you to it.
3. Keep traveling to see where it leads.
4. Find a new friend along the path.
5. Use it as a chance to locate your internal compass.
6. Put the pedal to the metal and take the best road trip of your life!
If we keep going, we're not lost. We're Detourists.