‘Atlas of the heart’ (book)

Hi everyone! With this post we officially celebrate two years of this very space!!! That is beyond exciting to me as this blog started as an idea to share more learning resources that could help you all navigate your studies with more clarity or simply with more insight. It is beyond heartwarming to see that throughout these couple years so many have reached out to express your appreciation towards my posts, leaving a positive comment in my inbox or Instagram DMs and taking the time to read my words. With that being said, it pains me to communicate that this will unfortunately be the last post for a little while as there are A LOT of big changes happening in my life (personal and professional). So many things happening at once, as they always do obviously, some really positive ones and others… let’s say more puzzling. In my efforts to unravel adult life once again, I will be taking a break from all my sessions, blogging, coaching and services in general until further notice. I am aiming to resume my practice at some point during summer season, but keep an eye on my Instagram or your email inbox as I will send out an announcement when I’m all settled.

Anyways, let’s have a look at this month’s topic shall we?

As a temporary parting gift, I chose to dedicate this space to a book there is very near and dear to my heart (no pun intended). We have talked about this author on this space before: the legendary Dr. Brené Brown. She is a force of nature when it comes to being a researcher, academic, lecturer, writer and mom. I introduced her a bit more in depth in a post from last year, so here’s the link if you want to check that out too! CLICK HERE TO CHECK PREVIOUS POST ON DR. BRENÉ BROWN

This time we are looking at one of her latest works titled ‘Atlas of the heart’, and oh boy what a piece of incredible work this is! Published in November 2021, Atlas of the heart’ by Brené Brown has the intention of exploring relationships and connections within the human experience. Being an ’emotional researcher’, Dr. Brown created this text to once again invite us to look within ourselves and how our brain is wired to interpret different emotions and create responses that shape our characters, choices, relationships and lives in general. As you may know by now, when I think about music and performance I think about connection with the art, ourselves as artists/creative people and our audience or listeners. I believe a strong understanding if these topics may well hold the key to grow closer to our craft and others who operate with or around us. This is why I truly think this book is deserving of a shoutout. You’ll be able to take a journey with the aim of understanding how to accurately label and recognise emotions, how to interact with your emotional-self as well as generating an understanding of how to channel these feelings the right way. The book itself does tackle some intense topics, however the reading is mostly fluid and nicely paced. If you are unfamiliar with this type of topics, rest assured that this book is not meant for academics only, so you’ll be able to pick up the key concepts in no time. One of Dr. Brown’s greatest qualities as a writer is that she is very direct and organised in her thought process and research. As an experienced lecturer and host of many educational events (most of them now televised/recorded and available on streaming services), Dr. Brown’s passion is inspiring, insightful and refreshing to follow. Whether it is reading her works or watching her talks on TV, her down-to-earth personality and love for the subject are always at the forefront creating a very inviting and welcoming atmosphere right away.

I always encourage creative people to not just get stuck in their studies of their direct disciplines but to think more holistically, and this is why I share this with you all. We all can always learn more about communication, feelings, experiences, situations and more. So if you are interested in taking a closer look at these topics, please do consider having a go at this book which is available even online at Amazon for purchase!

Dr. Brown has also recently recorded and produced a mini-series on this very book and its topics. I believe it is currently available on HBO only (I may be wrong/this may change by the time the post goes up), HOWEVER I am a believer that… where there’s a will, there’s also a way 😉 This could be a good taster if you’re not completely sure if the book and its topics may be interesting to you. And with this I leave you to the rest of your day. Thank you for being here once again, I hope to see you all very soon again!