1. What the book is about
In this book, Brooke McAlary explores the various meanings of Care. She reflects on her own experience of caring too much about the big issues facing humans and the planet right now (eg climate change, the pandemic, poverty), which she refers to as “Big Care”, and contrasts this with the equally important but unfortunately commercialised Self-Care. In the middle of these two extremes, Brooke finds a place for “Small Care”, which she breaks down into nine core ideas that we can nurture in our daily lives in order to create joy, wonder and meaningful change in the world. These ideas are:
connection
kindness
awe
nature
making
movement
play
rest
healing
2. What I liked about this book
Similar to her previous book, Slow, I felt drawn to sit and read Care at any opportunity I had. Fortunately, I was on annual leave the week that I choose to read it, so I had many opportunities to get my fix! I loved the way Brooke shares her personal stories with vulnerability and humour, backing them up with findings from published research in order to communicate her messages. I also really liked how she provides lists of different ways to incorporate each type of Small Care into your day based on how much time you have available (5 minutes, half an hour, half a day) and keeps them simple, low cost and fun! Further, the illustrations are really beautiful and the poems she shares at the beginning of each chapter are delightful.
3. Who should read this book?
I would recommend this book to everyone who cares a lot about their family, their community and the world, and feels their own self-care is not always a high priority. If you already believe that you’ve achieved a balance between Big Care, Small Care and Self-Care, then you’ll still enjoy reading this book and may even discover a few new ideas to add to your Care collection.
4. Other work by Brooke McAlary
Brooke McAlaray has a podcast “Slow Your Home” which I can highly recommend for more great ideas on how to slow down and live a more meaningful life. I can also recommend her previous book, Slow, which I have reviewed here.
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