Leonie Dawson's Blog, page 54

Podcast: Dear Diary… What I’ve Been Doing and Thinking

Darling hearts,

This episode is a glorious life update!

If you’re not into “rambly” episodes just hit next, but if you’re interested to know what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up soon, this is the one for you!

Grab a snack, a hot cuppa and settle down to listen to… DA DA DA DAAAAA!

Episode 30: Dear Diary… What I’ve Been Doing & Thinking

Includes:


What I’ve been learning about (racial justice work, intersectional feminism, new biz stuff, funnels)
How brilliant my kids are
What I’m gonna do next (2021 Workbooks + companion products, new courses)
Big goals
How I work with my assistant

Explicit AF

Just to reiterate: this is one sweary motherfucker of a podcast. So if you listen to it around kids… they will defo learn some new vocabulary from Aunty Leonie. MWHAHAHAHA. ENJOYYYYY!

How to listen

Listen below, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

Want to find all of my podcast episodes?

Just pop over here treasure!

You can also just sit on your couch and yell “OK Google! Play me “Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised” podcast!” and your digital servant shall administer to your needs.

Who gives a fuck about privacy when you can have a little robot assistant at your beck and call so you may never leave the couch again.

HONESTLY HOW GOOD IS LIFE.

THE END.

Big hugs,

Rise With Love podcast

Dearests, 

I had the opportunity to have a chat with the gorgeous Melissa Mills from the Rise With Love podcast recently! 

We talked all things authenticity! Being authentic in life and business

Video: 5 Tips for Creating a Best-Selling Book!

 

Love bugs!

Five tips to create a best-selling book; let’s go!

Write something people are fucking interested in
Make sure the title tells us EXACTLY what problem you’re going to be solving/question you’ll be answering/product you’ll be selling etc
You need a sales page! 
TESTIMONIALS
Learn how to market the fuck outta your book

If you’re reading through this list (or watching the video) and you’re like “YAASSS Leonie this is all on point!!! But… I have no idea how to do those things…”

DO NOT FRET MWAHAHAHA.

I have a course that goes exactly through all the above!

Check out my course 40 Days to Finish Your Book.

Everyone has a book inside them, just waiting to be gloriously released into the world.

Time to get writing!

Love always,

 

 

 

 

Podcast: 50 Ways to Feel Like a Goddess Again

Treasures,

50 Ways to Feel Like a Goddess Again!

Get the fuck around it!

Meditation naps
Have a green smoothie
Reach out to five people and tell them how much you love them and are grateful to them
Go for a drive to a place you haven’t been before
Switch off your computer for the day and remember joys which are screen free, have regular screen free sabbaticals every single week
Number six, write a list of things to do this life list, a bucket list if you will
Create something just for you
Write a love letter to you, to the goddess inside you to that beautiful human that you are
Give away or donate things that you own
Watch inspiring movies
Stand outside during sunrise or sunset
Create a dream board
Dream up, organize and host a gathering of goddesses
Make a raw dessert
Find a place you can have a campfire
Mark in your calendar an LBW
Ask your mum to tell your birth story OR tell your kids their birth story
Whenever I am in need of healing, I read the author Sark, S A, R K, her book Transformation Soup
Get a reading by someone that you know already or who comes recommended
Go swimming
Drink more water
Just for today, stop complaining
Cleanse your crystals
Decide to forgive someone
See if you can find music that you were obsessed by as a kid or a teen
Make a pile of your favourite healing books and just lie in amongst them. You don’t have to read them. Just like absorb their love by osmosis
Thank someone from your past who was special to you
Make space in your life for magic to enter by doing some divine decluttering and, of course, conscious consumption; don’t buy more shit
Go on a retreat
Organise a breakfast date with your favourite person
Decide on a new hobby to play with that you haven’t tried before
Cuddle your pet (or someone else’s, with permission)
Marry yourself
Create an altar or a space that feels supportive, uplifting, and inspiring
Create a gift basket for your best friend
Take 100 deep breaths
Go have a book picnic outside and get distracted by the clouds
Make your bedroom into a sanctuary
Give yourself a superhero name for the day
Take yourself on an artist date for lunch
Let someone else decide what book you should read next
Paint an angel and put it beside your bed
Sleep in the Moonlight
Take a media break
Create before you consume.
Write on a piece of paper what you’re willing to let go of and burn it
Write letters
Play dress ups
Make one new friend for the day
And if you want some homework, I highly recommend getting a piece of paper or writing in your art journal, a list of your own favourite ways to heal and get sparkly again

 

Explicit AF

Just to reiterate: this is one sweary motherfucker of a podcast. So if you listen to it around kids… they will defo learn some new vocabulary from Aunty Leonie. MWHAHAHAHA. ENJOYYYYY!

How to listen

Listen below, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

Related links:

In this episode I mention:

Lessons Every Goddess Must Know
My Shining Year Workbooks
Inspiring movies
Transformation Soup – SARK

Want to find all of my podcast episodes?

Just pop over here treasure!

You can also just sit on your couch and yell “OK Google! Play me “Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised” podcast!” and your digital servant shall administer to your needs.

Who gives a fuck about privacy when you can have a little robot assistant at your beck and call so you may never leave the couch again.

HONESTLY HOW GOOD IS LIFE.

THE END.

Big hugs,

P.S. Transcript belooooow!

Leonie: (00:01)

Treasures. Look at us. Number four who would have thought? I didn’t know we would get this far baby, but we’re here. So today for a little something different. I thought I would share with you [dun dun DUUUN] 50 ways to feel like a goddess again. And I’m reading it to you from a book that I wrote a few years ago called Lessons Every Goddess Must Know. But because I can’t help myself, I’m going to addendum the fuck out of it and talk shit as it reminds me to talk shit. So here we go. 50 ways to feel like a goddess again. Let’s make a list and come back to it every time we need to remember it. Mmkay? It doesn’t take long to remember just what luscious, shining goddesses we are. Number one, take a meditation nap. What’s a meditation nap you ask? Well I’m glad you asked.

Leonie: (01:01)

So I always find it really hard to like do meditation cause it’s just like so fucking stressful because you’re like okay I have to do this. Like, and try and stop my brain from like thinking in all directions and who God knows what. Um, and it feels like the opposite of being soft and receptive. And I know that says like so much about my personality and, and I don’t give a fuck. It’s just how I’m built. So what works for me instead is to lay down so I don’t get all sore and wondering if I’m doing the right posture and all that kind of shit. Um, and instead I just lay down and it could be on a bed or um, if you have an outdoor lounger, um, I like to do it on there as well. I also like to get a picnic blanket and take a pillow and blankets outside.

Leonie: (01:55)

I just fucking laid down on the grass. It’s glorious. It’s perfect. Like do it in a park during your backyard, whatever. And you can listen to a guided meditation if you want. Or you could listen to some inspiring motherfucking audiobook or an incredible podcast like this. Nah, just kidding. And just listen and receive. And if you fall asleep, that’s great. And if you meditate a little bit also great. Who gives a fuck? You’re resting. And that’s the most important thing. Number 2! Have a green smoothie, greens are good for the soul and our moods. So my favorite way of making a green smoothie is a banana, a handful of frozen berries. And um, and then I just put a handful of spinach leaves in there like baby spinach leaves and then churn that motherfucker up and it tastes pretty damn good. Um, if it’s not sweet enough for you, like it took me a while, but like I started putting like a little bit of honey at the start and then after a while you kind of get used to it.

Leonie: (03:00)

Oh, I should say like you should probably put some water in that because otherwise this is going to be like chunky bits. Um, sometimes I put like milk or soy milk in there, whatever the fuck you like. That for me is a good blend. I, my very first smoothie I tried was like some fucking recipe I found online that included kale, a whole lemon and like shit, tons of spinach and celery and it was so fucking horrific that I would have preferred to have died 20 years early than ever have another green smoothie again. So if that’s the kind of like green smoothie drink you are like “please God never again!” My kind of smoothie is probably better for you. Okay. Like you would probably like actually enjoy it and not want to die immediately. Right. Number three, reach out to five people and tell them how much you love them and are grateful to them.

Leonie: (03:55)

Also for pro tip points, I recommend doing this to any teachers or mentors from your childhood. I actually have done this to every teacher that was ever fucking nice to me or that made a positive impact to my life and they love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love hearing from past students. It makes their day, it makes their life, it makes a year. So it’s a beautiful thing. I had an amazing teacher in year four called Mr. Davis. I fucking love Mr. Davis. Uh, and he played guitar and he was so kind and genuinely lovely. And for me, coming from kind of a rough farming family for me, I think looking back, it was the first experience of being around a man who was gentle and lovely and interested in me as a person and he took so much interest in my writing and like really encouraged me and he got everyone to like write journals and stuff and to illustrate them.

Leonie: (05:03)

And he was just always overjoyed when I showed him mine. And I remember at one point there must have been something going on at home or I, I don’t know what was happening, but I know I was emotional and I just, didn’t want to write in my journal anymore. And he came over to me and he knelt down and he said, “Leonie, what’s happening? I’m missing seeing your journal entries… Are you okay? Like, I’m right here.” And honestly, I get tears in my eyes when I think about it. So, and he was also like super musical and I fucking loved that. Um, and he tried to teach me guitar. I can still play, well, very badly thanks to Mr. Davis. That part didn’t take off, but the rest of my creativity did. Anyway, it took me years to find him again online. Like I would try, um, to, to find him over the years and then discovered he actually, I thought his name was Guy Davis (G U Y), but instead his real name is, it’s Swedish I think.

Leonie: (06:03)

It’s, it’s pronounced similar to Guy but it’s not. And it’s C A I U S um, anyway, I found him, I tracked it down like the motherfucking internet mole that I am and found out that he’s the headmaster of, uh, another school now. And I sent him a letter and a package with my books in it and I told him how much he meant to me and how deeply grateful I was for him being a teacher. And he emailed me that day, um, and said that he cried and then he showed his wife who was a teacher and she cried and he totally remembered me. 25 years on it said, “of course you are an artist. And a writer. That’s exactly who I knew you would be because you were always so happy. You were just such a joyful creative kid and I’m so happy that you’ve continued that way.”

Leonie: (06:56)

Honestly, was fucking one of the best things that I’ve done in a decade. So highly, highly recommend reaching out to people and tell them how grateful you are to them. It changes their life and it changes yours too. Okay. Number 4. At some point here, guys like this, this list is not numbered I’m only going off the top of my head like I am not going to know what fucking number we’re up to, but you guys could count along with me. I don’t fucking care. Uh, okay. Number 4; go for a drive to a place you haven’t been before, even if it’s just a road, a park, a shop, or a river, let your spirit see new things and just go for a drive into places you haven’t been. I always think our spirit feels so happy when it sees new things that it hasn’t seen before and it’s inspiring as well.

Leonie: (07:37)

I love going on road trips, even small road trips for an hour. I just love being able to see you land that I haven’t seen before and it just reminds me of like the outside world because we can get so stuck in our heads. Okay. Number five, switch off your computer for the day and remember joys which are screen free, have regular screen free sabbaticals every single week. Uh, you might’ve heard in the last podcast, I have taken off all social media apps from my phone and I feel fucking fantastic for it. I highly recommend it. Number six, write a list of things to do this life list, a bucket list if you will. If you’ve got the My Shining Year Goals Workbooks, um, fill it out and your a hundred things to do in 2020 or even just fill out like at the back of the book as well.

Leonie: (08:28)

What you want to do in your lifetime. Like think big dreams, big goals and then you’ll start seeing them manifest and create into reality. Number seven, maybe seven probably, create something just for you. Like at the moment I shared last episode, I am writing, a romantic novella because I’ve wanted to for years and it makes zero sense and I don’t fucking care. I just needed to create something for me. I also have an art journal circle and if you Google Leonie Dawson art journal circle, you’ll find my big blog post about it, about how I created it. It’s like a traveling art journal that goes around to a whole bunch of my creative friends and everyone’s like, everyone has one and has it sent out and so you get a new one every two weeks and you get to see what everyone else is creating and their style and it’s so God damn inspiring. Number 8; write a love letter to you, to the goddess inside you, to that beautiful human that you are. I think, I mean I’ve been with my husband for 19 years now, but the great love story of my life has been the love story that I have with me.

Leonie: (09:43)

The love story of being my own best friend, of having my own back and saying to myself every single day, Oh Leonie I love you so, so much. I’m so glad I’m you. I’m so glad I get to spend time with you. I get to spend all of eternity with you. We are going to have so much fun and we do. And I don’t know why the fuck on earth, this kind of language isn’t normal and that everyone doesn’t say it. Well actually I do know the reasons for it. The reasons for it is two things. The patriarchy and capitalism is all there to make us feel like shit and to second guess ourselves so that we buy most shit that we don’t need and ruin the planet. Uh, and to acquiesce to the male figures in our lives. Cause guess who usually don’t have like self image problems?

Leonie: (10:32)

Dah, dah, dah, dah. Most men. Of course, there’s lots of men that do have mental health and all that kind of stuff. But toxic masculinity, um, is harmful. The patriarchy is harmful. So fuck it all and just love yourself deeply and truly because that’s what we were born to do. Number nine. Sure. Let’s go number 9. Give away or donate things that you own. And don’t like, go replacing it with shit that you don’t need, like [laughs] we need less stuff and also just like pass things on mindfully to people who actually need them and would tend to them. So for example, I um, decided last year to start going through all of the books that I’ve ever, that I have accrued because I have billions of them that I haven’t read. Like I was just stockpiling like a motherfucker.

Leonie: (11:30)

I know everyone’s like coronavirus like I’ll stockpile toilet paper. It’s like I’ve been preparing for coronavirus all along cause I stockpile the fuck out of books. You feel me? You feel me? Course you feel me, you guys are book whores just like me. Um, anyway, last year I started actually reading them and that was amazing. So I read like 400 books last year or so. Um, and then I found new homes for them. So I sold some, I gave them to, I gave different ones to friends, whenever we would have our monthly spa dates, which I do with my friends. I haven’t had one in ages. I need to book another one. Um, then I would take a box of books and people can, you know, get what they want out of it. Donated to our school, donated to local charity shops that really needed books, all that kind of stuff.

Leonie: (12:20)

So just mindful, I’m all for mindful consumption and mindful recycling of stuff as well. Watch inspiring movies. So if you Google Leonie Dawson inspiring movies, there’s a collection of my favorite inspiring movies. If you want to do, if you want to do action or you could just do as I do and watch ridiculous, 1980s comedies or silly romantic comedies or kids’ movies, like whatever, whatever makes you feel groovy. Do it. My go to movie is You’ve Got Mail. Even though I find it problematic now, I’m still into it mostly because it’s got books in it. Alright. Stand outside when it’s sunrise or sunset, just to witness like the birth and the end of a day. It really is a miracle and happens every fucking day and we forget to see it all the time. Number something; create a dream board. If you haven’t done a dream board before or maybe you haven’t done one in a while, right?

Leonie: (13:24)

Like I haven’t done one in a while, I should like book that onto my list. All you need to do is get like a piece of cardboard or a large piece of paper and get some old magazines and cut out of those magazines any pictures of things that you want to bring into your life, whether it’s an actual thing or it’s just a feeling and then put it somewhere that you can see it regularly. I have one I can see right now that I made. It’s probably about five years old now. Um, it’s not hanging up. It’s just in my art studio. And honestly having that on my table when I worked during that phase, my life was just so, so deeply powerful and really helped remember what I was here for and what I wanted to create.

Leonie: (14:12)

All right. Dream up, organize and host a gathering of goddesses. That reminds me I need to get on with my next gathering of goddesses. One, I have regular spa dates where we go to a spa that lets you use their spa and their pool and their sauna and you get a massage treatment as well. And we get to have it for the whole day or however long we want and everyone brings food and we talk shit all day. And it’s amazing. Another thing that I’m thinking of doing, I need to book in, is me and a couple of nights like my creative mates, we’re going to go hire an Airbnb and just make art for a night and just talk shit, which will be so much fun. And I also regularly, uh, well once a year or so, I like to have a hotel room to myself. Amazing.

Leonie: (15:02)

I mean, that’s not a gathering of goddesses, but it’s the gathering of one goddess and that is you [laughs]. All right. Make a raw dessert. If you have not tried raw desserts, highly recommended because you get all the joy of dessert, but it’s fucking healthy for you as well. So you can make amazing like pecan pies and chocolate truffles and Google raw desserts. You’ll find some scrumptious ones. Find a place that you can have a campfire. You don’t have to camp out all night. Just stay for the best bits of fire, gazing and marshmallow burning. I have been waiting for months to be able to do this. We even bought a fire pit, um, to be able to use it. And then the fire season happened and even though we’re out of, um, fire season now, thank fuck because we’ve had enough rain, it’s starting to get cooler anyway.

Leonie: (15:58)

My husband and I are just waiting until it’s actually fucking cold. Um, before we have a fire because, and we’re going to safeguard that shit out of that because if we have to have another fucking fire season, like last year, like this last year, I don’t know. I don’t know. Anyway, I’ll never look at fires the same again. Okay. Mark in your calendar an LBW. What’s an LBW? So my husband invented these lazy bastard weekends or lazy bitch weekends. Whatever you feel like doing, it’s a weekend where you have total permission to do as little as possible in pajamas, then nap. It’s much more healing and restorative watch movies. Just hang out, read books, talk shit, don’t do mother fucking nothing. Be the least level of productive productive that you can be. Ask your mom to tell you your birth story. That can be really huge and that can be really powerful.

Leonie: (16:52)

Or tell your kids their birth story. I, my youngest just had her sixth birthday and we read a book on the night before her birthday and we’ve read, we’ve read it on birthday Eve since I’ve started having kids. It’s called on the day you were born, which is just beautiful. And then it very naturally goes into me telling them about their birth story. At some point they’re probably going to have enough of hearing about, but I don’t fucking care. Uh, next one, whenever I am in need of healing, I read the author Sark, S A, R K, her book Transformation Soup. She has so many incredible books. Now if you fucking love me, let me tell you, SARK is so much better. S A R K is an acronym. Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, S A R K is what she writes under though. Um, there is just so much good and revolutionary shit and I honestly, deeply believe that she is like the founder, the mother, the priestess of so much of the women’s self help movement now and I owe who I am now because I was blessed to find a SARK book when I was 18. Get a reading by someone that you know already or who comes recommended. Oracle card readings can always help me get back on track again and just remind myself who I am.

Leonie: (18:15)

Go swimming even if swimming just means sitting in the spa at your local health club. Because that totally counts as well. Drink more water. Chances are that you are dehydrated. I drink a lot of water every day. I drink between two or three liters of water a day and I am always telling everybody else around me to drink their fucking water as well. I am your friendly water police. Another tip. just for today, just stop complaining, just stop complaining and start seeing what is good and start saying what is good instead. If you’ve got crystals, now’s a good time to get them a good cleansing with water and salt, if they’re not soluble kind of crystals, and then pop them in sunlight or Moonlight, it can be so beautiful to connect with them. Again. Also, I want to say this in a very 2020 way.

Leonie: (19:10)

If you are going to purchase crystals in the future, make sure that they are sustainably sourced or secondhand because um, it’s really important that we think about mining as well. Like, like yes, that’s all. Next one. Decide to forgive someone. It doesn’t mean that you have to do, you don’t have to go back into relationship with them. It just means to decide to not keep on squeezing that anger muscle inside you and go, you know what, they were trying the best they could. I was trying the best that we could and we, I hurt. They hurt me or I hurt them or we both hurt each other. That sucked. And I need to forgive that situation and carry on with grace in my heart. See if you can find music that you were obsessed by as a kid or a teen. I remember that when I was a kid.

Leonie: (20:08)

We, knew all of the words to the lion King. I was also really in love with Rick Price, Ace of Bass and Joshua Kadison. Listen to them again, find them on Spotify and sing along, it can be so much fun. Make a pile of your favorite healing books and just lie in amongst them. You don’t have to read them. Just like absorb their love by osmosis. Thank someone from your past who was special to you. I was talking before about, um, you know, reaching out to a teacher that you are grateful for. Is there a friend or somebody that you can from your past that you can reach out and say thank you. Thank you for that whole experience of our relationship. Make space in your life for magic to enter by doing some divine decluttering and, of course, conscious consumption like, don’t buy more shit.

Leonie: (21:05)

Just tend to your crap mindfully. Go on a retreat, one that’s run by you or a group one. They can be so life changing. Organize a breakfast date with your favorite person. I always love getting corncakes with maple syrup. If you’ve ever tried that, you know the kind of magic I’m talking about. And if you haven’t, try and find a place that does it. Decide on a new hobby to play with that you haven’t tried before. Horse-riding, scrapbooking, disco, bowling, knitting, ice skating, creative writing. The possibilities really are endless. Cuddle a puppy or a meow meow, and if you don’t have one, see if you can borrow a friend’s just for a hug. Tell you what. So we live near Noosa river and I like to go for walks along Noosa river. And the best part about Noosa river probably apart from the fact it’s next to the river, just beautiful.

Leonie: (21:58)

I just love the energy there. I love that everyone takes their dogs for walks there. It’s so precious. And um, I love that I get to see fucking doggies and it’s just a festival. It’s like a parade of fucking dogs along there except, except for one fucking dog that I cannot stand walking behind. It’s a massive poodle that has not been snipped. And he’s like very, very fluffy and very, very woolly and very totally probably be over a metre high. And the issue is, is that obviously they use him for breeding because he has the most massive set of balls and they look like permed balls because his hair’s all curly and like I can just see it in my face and as he’s walking they just like roll back and forth and they’re like fucking hypnotic.

Leonie: (22:53)

And so whenever we like accidentally walk up behind giant poodle balls, um, we, like have to take another direction. So there you go. I just wanted to give you that lovely imagery of poodle balls. I’m so glad that we got here in the end because like 50 ways to feel like a goddess again, you were not thinking I was going to have a conversation that led to poodle balls and yet we did it. And I just feel like that’s a real accomplishment. People are very proud of us. All right, next marry yourself and you’re like, “huh?”, Yes, you absolutely can marry yourself. And I’ve married myself and it’s the fucking best. So before I married Chris, I was, I was still with Chris, but um, I was in a sacred women’s circle. And one of the traditions in that circle is that everybody marries themselves if they feel called to it.

Leonie: (23:44)

And why you marry yourself is because you choose and you say out loud to love and honor yourself above all else. Because here’s the thing, like why the fuck are we so willing to like say that to someone else but not say it to ourselves like the person that we literally spend all our time with the person that we are trapped with for eternity. Like why don’t we choose to make that a beautiful and loving relationship. And here’s the thing, being married to yourself makes you a better lover. It makes you a better mama, it makes you a better wife. It all the kinds of ways, but most of all, it just makes you a happy human. So I highly recommend it. You don’t have to. I had a big ceremony. It was beautiful. Oh, I’ve got the photos from it. It was about 24, maybe 23 and you don’t have to do a full ceremony, but I fucking did and it was brilliant. Um, hands-down better than my actual wedding because my actual wedding involved extended family and we all know how fucking shit that gets [laughs.

Leonie: (24:52)

And like my, my husband would not be upset to hear that. My husband absolutely agrees. Like, yeah, our wedding was fucking hell. Like add in, like my divorcing parents who were like just at the start of the separation at that point and it was just like, Oh, sweet Jesus, what the actual fuck is happening here. Hashtag awkward. Anyway, I married myself. It was brilliant. Highly recommended. You don’t have to dress up. Just say it in a mirror. Say I choose to love and honor you every single day of my life because you’re my boo. You’re my soul mate. I’m with you forever babes. Right? I should hurry up because I do need to go and pick up my kids from school. Create an altar or a space that feels supportive, uplifting, and inspiring. A collection of all the lovely things that you want to remind yourself off. Create a gift basket for your best friend.

Leonie: (25:40)

It doesn’t have to be like hugely like crazy expensive. Just her favourite things that would remind her to tend to her own beautiful self. Take 100 deep breaths. This is kind of like my lazy way of meditating as well, apart from the whole meditation nap experience, which is brilliant. Um, but 100 deep breaths, just count them in and out. That’s kind of my basic ass method of doing meditation. Go have a book picnic outside and get distracted by the clouds. Make your bedroom into a sanctuary. Give yourself a superhero name for the day. Like I can be queen Megatron. I can bounce with the power of a thousand Pogo sticks and a hundred Tiggers. I 100% can. I’m great at this. I am a superhero. Take yourself on an artist date for lunch. Let someone else decide what book you should read next. Paint an angel and put it beside your bed.

Leonie: (26:41)

Sleep in the Moonlight. Either keep your curtains open or sleep outside or if you can’t do either; step outside for a moment before going to bed just to say good night to grandmother moon. Take a media break. Create before you consume. Write on a piece of paper what you’re willing to let go of and burn it. Burn that motherfucker to the ground. Write letters. The kind that needs stamps, apply stickers by the boatload and embrace your inner pen-palling 11 year old self. Play dress ups. Make one new friend for the day. Who cares whether it’s online or offline, but connection is good. And if you want some homework, I highly recommend getting a piece of paper or writing in your art journal, a list of your own favourite ways to heal and get sparkly again. Just remember feeling like a goddess again is only a moment or two away. We just have to turn our attention inwards and reconnect with that beautiful shining soul inside us. You got this.

Video: How To Be Authentic Online

Hola treasures!

Want know How To Be Authentic Online?

Are you ready for this?

In order to be authentic online…

Be authentic… Offline too!

It’s as easy as that!

Why try to be anyone else when you can be yourself? Hohohoho

Big love from moi!

 

 

 

 

Video: Burnout Prevention

Love bugs,

Burnout is not something I’m a stranger to. 


 
It’s so important to make sure you’re setting boundaries and saying a big fucking NO to things that will take you down to zero.

 
Fun little exercise for you to try: what’s the economic cost of burnout for you? 
 
For me it means at least a three month recovery period, which is a loss of around $200,000.
 
Not to mention the impact it has on mental and physical heath, and family life.

 


I have a free resource on burnout which you can find HERE!


 


(It’s called “How Not To Burnout: Free eBook” and is under the section; “Free eBooks and Illustrated Zines”

 
Get that well filled up, lovelies!

Big love,

 

 

 

Hustle with Purpose Podcast Interview!

Treasures! 

I had the absolute joy of sitting down with Jacinta Gandy from the Hustle with Purpose Podcast to talk about… 

Drumroll please………

Video: My Five Fave Money Books of ALL TIME!

Darling hearts,

Today I’m talking my five FAVE money books of ALLLL TIIIIIME!!!


 
The books:

Podcast: Calm and Connected Parenting Tips

Gorgeous ones,

Today I’m talking all about connected parenting.

My daughter struggled going to school this morning and I wanted to share how I supported her and her poor little nervous system.

Here are some of the strategies I implemented:

Long strong cuddles (at least 20 seconds)
Deep breathing
Asking gentle questions
Validating her emotions and feelings: “Stop, Drop, Empathy”
Helping her with tasks she was struggling with (getting dressed)
I sat next to her in the back of the car on the way to school and held her hand
I told her all the reasons I love her (she was STOKED by this, it totally engaged her)

I also:

Try to keep my cup full (our kids bounce off our own emotions and behaviours)
Respond with empathy and gentleness
Recognise that parenting is fucking hard and that we are all doing our best by our kids

 

Explicit AF

Just to reiterate: this is one sweary motherfucker of a podcast. So if you listen to it around kids… they will defo learn some new vocabulary from Aunty Leonie. MWHAHAHAHA. ENJOYYYYY!

How to listen

Listen below, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

Related links:

In this episode I mention:

Hiro Boga
Dr. Carrie Contey
Steve Biddulph
Patty Wipfler
Magda Pecsenye

 

Want to find all of my podcast episodes?

Just pop over here treasure!

You can also just sit on your couch and yell “OK Google! Play me “Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised” podcast!” and your digital servant shall administer to your needs.

Who gives a fuck about privacy when you can have a little robot assistant at your beck and call so you may never leave the couch again.

HONESTLY HOW GOOD IS LIFE.

THE END.

Big hugs,

Podcast: Best Books

Possums!


I often get emails asking “what are your book recommendations?” so I decided to do a cheeky podcast episode on this very topic!

I cover my fave books on business, money, parenting, creativity, soul and personal development, memoirs, romance, intersectional, and graphic memoirs.

ALSO! If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll find a transcript. Yay!

 

Explicit AF

Just to reiterate: this is one sweary motherfucker of a podcast. So if you listen to it around kids… they will defo learn some new vocabulary from Aunty Leonie. MWHAHAHAHA. ENJOYYYYY!

How to listen

Listen below, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

Want to find all of my podcast episodes?

Just pop over here treasure!

You can also just sit on your couch and yell “OK Google! Play me “Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised” podcast!” and your digital servant shall administer to your needs.

Who gives a fuck about privacy when you can have a little robot assistant at your beck and call so you may never leave the couch again.

HONESTLY HOW GOOD IS LIFE.

THE END.

Big hugs,

P.S. Here’s a transcript of the episode for you:

Leonie: (00:01)

Treasures… [Epic intro] Leonie Dawson Refuses to Be Categorized. The podcast with the most incredible original soundtrack. [More epic intro] look at me with my flash fucking intros and outros. I said I would do it, but you know, I did it. Just kidding. I’m still just fucking around here and I’m loving it. So my loves what a week, this is, I don’t know, I released this a couple of days ago. There’s already been a thousand podcast plays of it, which is just spellbinding but I want to I keep reminding myself that’s not what this is about. I didn’t do it for the numbers and what I did do it for is the fact that I am absolutely having a fucking time of my life and it, this is so fun and that each day I’m just excited to be able to run to my studio and record another podcast. Um, and I also live for little moments like this; one of my best friends, um, who used to be my boss at work and we sat beside each other for seven years.

Leonie: (01:07)

She admitted to me that she listened to it, because, here’s the thing that you should know about, like my friends, like, especially like my older friends, like they don’t give a fuck about, um, like, my business like that they’re excited for me. Right. But like, honestly, they don’t give a fuck. Like their version of Leonie is the Leonie before this business. Um, and this is like, it’s very just like a person to person kind of thing. And um, they’re not fan girls whatsoever and I love that about them. And anyway, so she was like, kind of grudgingly admitted that she listened to these podcasts and that it just made her really smile and feel really happy because it felt like I was back at work with her and talking shit with her again so that cheered me up. I love you Lil, I love you so much.

Leonie: (02:01)

Um, and then yesterday I was still jumping in my car in the school car park and another mom kind of like screeched to a halt beside me and she’s like “I LISTEN TO YOUR PODCAST!!!!” and then kind of screeched off again. And it just made me laugh. It’s like I’m an episode of fucking bad moms. I loved that movie by the way. I, because I feel like my life, it’s just about being a bad mom. Um, and then another sweet darling, dear friend of mine, Maddie said it was like the, I get to go like drive in her car with her, but she doesn’t have to talk back. I just talk absolute shit to her. It’s like having your best friend in the car. So that makes me happy. Like that’s the shit that really matters to me. And when I started blogging in 2004, I remember so clearly those little conversations, like there was an assistant at work and she was like, “Leonie! You didn’t blog last night!

Leonie: (02:52)

What am I going to, what am I going to read this morning? It’s just like this little dose of inspiration in my life.” Um, and that just filled me up with so much gladness. So when a bad mum screeches to a halt and yells at her window that she’s listening to my podcast, that fucking thrills me. And that’s way, way better than any stupid numbers. So there we go. I just want to say I fucking love you guys and thanks for being here today. Today. Today. I was thinking about the fact that I read a lot of books, as you fucking know, and I’ve written my best books list every year since 2012 if you go to https://leoniedawson.com/best-books, there’s the full, um, links to all of those best blog posts. But I thought, you know what, like I should do just an all time, most favorite books I’ve ever read in my lifetime and the ones that I have loved the most and share them with you.

Leonie: (03:57)

So that’s what we’re going to do today, the best books of all time according to Leonie. So we’ll start off with, we’ll go through business, money, parenting, creativity, soul and personal development, memoirs, romance, intersectional, and graphic memoirs. Uh, and I think there’s about 40 books all up. And if you ask me to pick less than that, I will say, fuck you. Fuck you very much. It’s like choosing between my children. It was hard enough just to weed it down to this, guys. [Laughs]. Okay. Business, my top four business books that I highly recommend is the One Minute Millionaire by a Mark Victor Hansen, I think it is. And Robert G. Allen. That’s right. And that really helped me work out how to build a business model. And it’s a short parable. You know, like some of those books and some of those parable books are fucking Dicky. Like they’re like, Oh, it’s a little bit too much like the prophet, if you know what I mean.

Leonie: (05:04)

Um, or, [silly voice] “and then this happened, like, wow, I just learned another spiritual lesson.” You’re like, that’s a bit fucking obvious, but this actually has like really good concepts. Um, so One Minute Millionaire; totally loved it. Four Hour Work Week. I would say Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris is the most important business book I’ve ever read. It’s why I have a 10 hour a week business because that’s what I set out to achieve because I read that book and I took it very fucking literally. I do want to say Tim Ferris, I don’t find him like super intersectional and sometimes now he’s, I just find him so fucking steeped in white male privilege and he doesn’t recognize it. Uh, but still the concepts in his book are really fucking sound. All books by Dan Kennedy, even though Dan Kennedy would probably give Donald Trump a blow job or at the very least a circle jerk.

Leonie: (05:59)

Um, like if he had half a fucking chance, like I’m sure he’s a Republican. He is like got a big old handbar mustache and he seems pretty conservative. However, I still fucking love Dan Kennedy because he speaks so plainly and um, is so fucking honest, bracingly honest about marketing and business and he’s just a fucking guru in that area, I reckon. So he has heaps of books out. He’s immensely productive. Um, now I, I’m kind of like trying to work out whether I should say he is that or was that because like apparently he died last year, right. And he even like published a letter saying I’m dying, blah, blah, blah. Or by the time you read this, I’m dead. But then apparently he didn’t die at that point and I have not been able to find evidence whether the fact that he is still alive or not.

Leonie: (07:00)

So I hope he’s recovered. I hope he’s writing more books. I hope he writes a book called back from the fucking dead bitches. Um, I would 100% read it and it will be great. Um, anyway, love you Dan Kennedy. Thanks for being you. Even if your hand is tinged with orange suntan lotion because you circle jerked Donald Trump. When I said this podcast would be explicit. I meant it. I was, I’m not here to play around guys. Okay. My last book that I recommend is, um, a little bit of a different energy. Well though a hugely different entity to those other books Align and Attract by Kerry Rowett. Kerry is a friend of mine. Spoiler alert. Um, the nepotism is, is high. No, I’m saying it because it is fucking amazing and I think she totally gets in the mind of women of women entrepreneurs, especially online ones. And it’s like she can fucking mind read us.

Leonie: (08:05)

It is brilliant. Hands down. Brilliant. Okay. Money in terms of the best money books that I recommend Get Rich Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield Thomas. Um, I’ve known Denise for years and years now. And here’s the thing, I think she’s one of the best experts in the world about talking women, money and mindset and money blocks. Um, and I’ve seen, because I’ve known her since like 2012, I’ve been like in a lot of contact with her and connection with her and had been in mastermind groups and she stayed in my house for a retreat. Um, this woman walks the fucking talk. This woman has upgraded her own mindset so much. She is just so full of integrity and her, um, her content is fucking brilliant. So Get Rich Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield Thomas. Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape. Scott Pape I think is an angel upon the earth and I know that he’s a human, blah, blah, blah.

Leonie: (09:07)

But I honestly believe he was sent here to talk, like to teach us about abundance in a way that is sane and grounded and um, responsible and thoughtful and just grounded in the right kind of principles. Barefoot Investor is a book that I read about 15 years ago and it helped me start developing financial literacy and it is still the best money book I have ever read in my life. One that I highly recommend. It has been brought out again and again, it’s a massive, massive, massive bestseller here in Australia. Um, and I still recommend it and I still, I had a friend a couple of days ago go, Oh my God, I just started on Barefoot Investor because you told me two months ago and Oh my God, you’re right. It’s fucking incredible. And I’m like, duh, no shit. Right. One thing I love about Scotty Pape as well is he is very values driven.

Leonie: (10:07)

So he lost his farm in a bushfire a few years ago and last year decided that yes, of course he’s got very, very successful businesses and um, you know, he is a major broadcaster here in Australia and a newspaper columnist and you know, a massive bestseller, but he needed to do even more as, so he actually went back to school and studied to become a volunteer financial counselor for, um, natural disasters and crisises. And so by the time that the fire season came around, Scott Pape was on the ground helping people with that and he’s even got a new TV show out, I think it’s called Road to Recovery about him going into, um, these communities and volunteering in there to help people create a financial and emotional roadmap going forward through these crisises because he’s been through it himself. And I just think it brings what tears to my eyes to think of that he’s, he’s done this and um, it doesn’t make him any money, but he believes that that’s what he’s needs to be doing in the world.

Leonie: (11:16)

So bless you. Bless you. Bless you, Scott Pape. Okay. Elsewhere on the money front, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T Harv Eker. This is another kind of money mindset one and really working through and like, where your money fears are because here’s the thing about money, it’s actually not really about money. It’s about all of the fears that you bring to it and the mindset stuff is just critical to work through. So that was a big game changer for me when I read that book… And Retire Young, Retire Rich by Robert Kiyosaki. Um, good old Bobby Keogh shouldn’t, nobody calls him Bobby Keogh but I will now. He is the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and is way more well known for that series than Retire Young, Retire Rich, but for me, reading Retire Young, Retire Rich was kind of just a massive inspiration for me.

Leonie: (12:10)

I think I read it when I was like 25 and I thought, Oh Holy fuck, this is something that is actually doable and something that’s possible. And um, I did it, so hooray! I could be retired if I wanted to, but I kind of like talking still so much. Chris said to me at one point, he said, Oh, you know, like, do you think you’ll ever like retire at one point? And I’m like, no. Uh, because this is my hobby. This is what I love doing. I love being able to talk to you all and create shit and just this is my dream come true. Okay. Onto parenting. There’s Mama Zen by Karen Maisen-Miller, which is brilliant. And um, Glennon Doyle also known as Glennon Doyle Melton has written some absolutely incredible books; Carry On Warrior and Love Warrior. And it’s not just about parenting, it’s about all of the things.

Leonie: (13:02)

It’s interesting though when I was thinking about parenting because of things I have learned about parenting weren’t necessarily from books. Steve Bidoff has taught me a lot. Carrie Conti has taught me a lot. The Ask Moxie website run by Magda is just brilliant. Um, those are the places where I have learned from, from parenting. Basically. My whole philosophy summed up with parenting is, especially in the young years, is to just stay as close to your kids as you can and try and calm your brain down first, um, and respond to them with love and compassion and empathy. So my kids like actually didn’t really throw tantrums. Um, and like you would probably be like, what the fuck Leonie, they just, they didn’t really, so especially my first, the second one was slightly more agitated, but here’s the thing, as soon as they would go into a meltdown, right?

Leonie: (14:08)

I didn’t say no to them. I would plop down on the floor next to them and I’d say, Oh, love you seem really frustrated right now. Oh my gosh. Of course. Of course. And they would just crawl into my arms, have a little cry, share whatever was happening for them if they had the words for it. But it would just calm down their nervous system. I mean, all tantrums really are, is just a nervous system being over it. And just like, you know, an autistic person or a person with autism would have you, you don’t look, you can’t calm a person’s nervous system down who’s having an anxiety attack or autistic meltdown by going, no, stop that bad behavior. It’s like tantrums are not bad behavior. It’s their nervous systems just completely losing it because they don’t have the capacity to hold it yet.

Leonie: (15:01)

So, um, I, I didn’t, I don’t really say that we had tantrums. And when you don’t fight against something, it doesn’t go on for, for that long. Like when they can express it and feel it, um, it can help hugely. So those are the kinds of like mindset I take for it. I probably should like do a whole like workshop sometime just talking about my parenting philosophies, but you know, that’s a whole other topic. Anyway. Mama Zen and Glennon Doyle are fucking brilliant. I should say as well. Glennon Doyle’s books aren’t just about parenting. I think anyone would benefit from Glennon Doyle’s books, including if you’re in recovery, if you have mental health, if you’re struggling to be sober. Um, and if you have intimacy issues, all kinds of stuff, it’s fucking great. I think every woman and man should read Glennon Doyle books. Now in terms of creativity, I love Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Leonie: (15:57)

Absolutely. Like how she sees creativity and I see creativity is pretty much the same fucking thing. So thanks for writing that book so I didn’t have to Lizzie! The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. If you haven’t heard of Julia Cameron. Wow. You are so lucky to be introduced to this woman’s work. She is the founder of the creative movement in, in so many ways. She has written absolutely gobsmacks of books. Um, but the artist’s way is probably like the biggest culmination of, of those books and it’s like a three month cause for you to really get in touch with your creativity and get over your creative blocks and that kind of stuff and start seeing it is the divine and joyful experience it really is.

Leonie: (16:47)

Now another book that’s kind of creative, but it’s about personal development and just living a really fucking great life is the work of SARK. That’s S A R K. and if you don’t know who SARK is, like woo, like you are again, you’re so lucky because SARK is better than Leonie. Like honestly, like she is the queen. She like, I don’t know who I would be if I didn’t find SARK books when I was a young woman. She’s written Succulent Wild Woman and Transformation Soup and Eat Mangoes Naked and all kinds of fucking brilliant, glorious books on all kinds of topics. She is phenomenal and I highly, highly, highly recommend getting a SARK book into your life. And lastly, David Whyte, the poet W, H, Y, T, E, and specifically his audiobooks. So he’s got a bunch of audio books and they are phenomenal. One, he’s got an incredible voice and he is such a deep philosopher, eh, on all kinds of things from the heart to creativity to walking in this world and Oh God, I want to cry when I think about David Whyte.

Leonie: (18:09)

Just stunning. Absolutely fucking stunning. Now let’s talk about soul and personal development. The ones that have made the biggest impact on me is the work of Byron Katie. She has a number of books, including A Thousand Names for Joy, and I Need Your Love, Is That True? Byron Katie’s four questions, um, form a whole deeper part of my spirituality and how I work through difficult stuff. Um, and I think everyone needs to know about the work of Byron Katie. Another one is Untie The Strong Woman by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Now, Dr. E Is much, much better known for Women Who Run with the Wolves. I didn’t get that book. I tried to but I fucking didn’t get it, but Untie the Strong Woman. Whoa. Fuck I did. So I think it’s just like try a Clarissa Estes books because they’re brilliant. Um, and you might have an aversion to one and a deep attraction to another.

Leonie: (19:13)

Like I did the work of Neil Donald Walsh who wrote Conversations with God. There’s a Conversations with God movie as well, and he’s written just whole wads of books about God. Um, that for me is pretty close to my own personal connection with God and how he sees that relationship and what he feels, messages that he gets through. It’s pretty similar to what I receive. So, um, good old Neely. He’s a groovy dude. Uh, First We Make the Beast Beautiful and New Journey Through Anxiety by Sarah Wilson is a phenomenal book on mental health and just living in this world. It is bare and raw and divine and scrumptious in so many ways. Gretchen Rubin has a bunch of fantastic books, including The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, which I love, but I find her most important work is the four tendencies, the indispensable personality profiles that reveal how to make your life better.

Leonie: (20:22)

And basically she’s worked out there’s four kinds of people and how they are motivated. Like what’s kind of like your productivity profile and how to increase that. I personally am an obliger so I work better when I’m being held to commitments to other people. Um, and that structure of how she’s written that book is so fucking brilliant. I highly, highly recommend it. And last but not least for soul and personal development, the books of Brene Brown. Now I personally much prefer it when it’s the audio books. Brené’s got a fucking brilliant voice. She’s got a really conversational tone. Her books about vulnerability and being wholehearted in the world are all based in research. Um, as she’s a, I think it’s called a grounded theory social worker, kinda like a social worker. He interviews people then takes all the data from it and extrapolates it into like, how do we live better lives?

Leonie: (21:21)

And her work is so fucking important, especially for women. Now memoirs, um, I’ve got three here Walking to Listen by Andrew Forsthoefel? Fucking hell. I don’t, I should’ve looked that one up. Forsthoefel. Walking to Listen: 4,000 miles across America. One story at a time. Beautiful, beautiful book about a young man who graduates school, realizes he doesn’t know what the fuck to do with his life and doesn’t know what the fuck to think. And so he just decides to walk across America instead. And he, and the connections that he makes along the way, it is beautiful. And I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed my way through it. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn hands down one of the very best books I’ve ever read in my life. And it’s the story of her losing her farm, her much beloved farm and her house and all of their money and her husband being diagnosed with a terminal illness and then becoming homeless and deciding to walk around England instead.

Leonie: (22:35)

Um, it is like a Holy act of God that book, it is stunning and I could not recommend it more. And lastly, Wilding by Isabella Tree. This is something that has changed the way that I look at life profoundly. It is about a woman who decides to turn her farm in England and turn it wild basically, and let it turn to wilderness again. And what happens when they do and the miracles that happen along the way. It changed the trajectory of what I was doing with my life to read it. It may. I decided after reading that book, like I wanted to put all of my philanthropic efforts towards rebuilding rewilding projects instead. So that’s why I chose the Australian Wildlife Conservancy because they’re purchasing land and rewilding it again. It is a brilliant, brilliant book and so poetically and beautifully written and I highly recommend it.

Leonie: (23:46)

Romance books. I fucking love romance, you know, this. And I wanted to share the ones that I’ve loved the most over recent times. All Tessa Dare books and she is kind of like Victorian Regency romance. So like England in the 18 hundreds, Dukes fucking wall flowers. Pretty much fucking great though. Um, other ones which are more contemporary is The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary and Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating. The State of Grace by Rachel Lucas and the Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. Uh, it’s funny when I look back at those, I think two or three of them have, um, romantic characters that are Aspergers. So, um, like I have a special interest in that because I am likely Aspergers and I love seeing neuro-diverse characters in romantic roles. It’s, it’s so fucking refreshing compared to like just normals fucking other normals.

Leonie: (24:55)

Like that’s a bit boring. Like yeah, I was saying that story a million times. Like that’s like all of the romance stories that we’ve seen over time. But what about when there’s actual people involved? Like real humans with real fuck ups. And that’s where I like those kinds of books. Two more sections to go: Intersectional. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin de Angelo. Now I should say here, if you don’t know what the word intersectional is. So intersectional talks about intersectional feminism. And what that means is, yes, we want women to be seen as equal to men because of course they fucking are, but we won’t leave anyone else behind as we do it. And so when you’re an intersectional feminist, it means that you also support, um, LGBTQ plus rights and you advocate for them, for them to be safe and have the same kind of freedoms and privileges that we enjoy.

Leonie: (26:02)

And that you also are an ally and an advocate for Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities. So, um, I thought I was really liberal, um, and thought I was anti-racist, not racist, um, until, you know, and you know, I’d studied that kind of stuff at university as well. I definitely thought I was. And then a few years ago I started kind of reading more about this and realize like, Oh fuck, there’s so much undiscovered privilege and um, unconscious bias that is moving through me and it’s something that needs to be looked at actively and I need to understand other people’s experience in the world that much more. Um, so that’s what I mean by intersectional. So White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin D’Angelo is pivotal. I think every single human should read this book.

Leonie: (27:00)

It’s so, so, so fucking important. Talking to My Country by Stan Grant, uh, Stan Grant is a really well known, um, ABC or was it SBS? No, I think it was ABC. Um, anyway, he’s a news presenter, uh, who is indigenous Australian, Australian Aboriginal. And he talks about his history of growing up Aboriginal and what that meant and how that felt and what it feels like now. And it is sobering and it is beautiful and it is, it just opens your heart out wide so that you can understand another person’s and another culture’s life and what it means for them and where their hurts are. And I just think it’s so fucking critically important to do that. And Queer, a graphic history by Meg, John Barker and Jules Scheele. And that is, it’s like, I won’t lie, it’s, it’s pretty academic. It reads a little bit like a university socialism kind of textbook because it’s looking at kind of queer theory and, um, over the history of queer theory.

Leonie: (28:17)

But seriously, it actually helped me understand so much more, um, about the whole LBGTQ plus community. And it also helped me see issues like gender and why the gender binary is so toxic. And it gave me a huge, huge, huge lightning bolt of realizing like, Oh, well that’s right. I’ve never felt particularly female myself and I would prefer to not really be seen by my gender, because in lots of ways I have more masculine traits in and I don’t want to hide that part either. And, um, yeah, it was fucking brilliantly, brilliantly helpful. So I highly recommend those, and graphic memoirs if you haven’t experienced the absolute miraculous bliss of graphic novels and graphic memoirs yet. It’s kind of like, it’s kind of like comic books for adults, but even better, like they are like art and words intertwined and they make my brain so happy and I also feel like I’m able to understand other people’s life experiences so much better when it is in that format.

Leonie: (29:39)

So my favorite graphic memoirs have been Belonging. A German Reckons with History and Home by Nora Krug and uh, that is a German woman who lives in New York and goes back into her history to try and understand what it means to come from a country that it is known for Hitler and the Nazi movement. And there’s something right at the start that really grabs hold of you. And she said, what if your whole ancestry and your whole country was defined by the madness of one man, and that Germany is so intertwined with the word Hitler. What does that mean? How does it feel and is that the whole of what Germany is? It just was deeply eyeopening and it is so stunningly written and illustrated and created just mind, mind gaspingly beautiful. Uh, Lucy Knisley. K. N. I. S. L. E. Y. I will link to all of these in the show notes.

Leonie: (30:53)

Um, but she has written heaps of graphic memoirs now about her travels and about being pregnant and about getting married. And um, she’s got new ones coming out about, her babies and they are beautiful and they are scrumptious and I just love them. I love them. I think she is almost incomparable with how fucking great they are. Can’t We Talk About Something Pleasant by Roz Chast? That was the first graphic memoir I ever read and I remember just being absolutely gripped by it. I bought it because it had won an award and I thought, Oh, sounds like a great book. And I bought it not even knowing it was illustrated. And then I was like, what the fuck? This is a comic book. And then I was like, Oh, well I read a couple of pages. Oh, Holy shit, this is amazing. All books should be written like this Roz Chast writes about, um, her ageing parents and what it’s like to try and parent your parents.

Leonie: (31:58)

And it is so raw and so loving and beautiful all at once. And last but not least, Marbles by Ellen Forney, which is about her journey into discovering she is bipolar and what that means for her and how it affects her creativity and her life and her relationships. Just fucking glorious. And I wanted to say one more thing. Books that have changed my life, and this is going to sound ridiculous, but there are my own books. So in 2009, when I was pregnant with my first kid, I knew that there was going to be some hard times ahead and I knew I needed something to hold onto. And I knew that I wanted to set goals, but I didn’t want them to be black and white. I wanted them to, and like really masculine. I wanted them to be rainbows and unicorns and deeply kind of feminine and creative.

Leonie: (32:57)

And so I created the goals, workbooks purely for myself. I painted them and hand written them and I was looking at it and I was thinking, Oh, this is really cute. I wonder if like other people would want this. And I put this online as an ebook. Like I think I uploaded it like boxing day. And um, I thought if 10 other people would like it, that would probably be amazing. But it’s now gone on to be used by over 350,000 other people. And here’s the thing, even if like it wasn’t international bestseller, even if it was just me that was doing it, that would still be some of the most important books of my life because actually sitting and connecting with myself year after year and asking myself again and again, what is it I want to do with this wild and beautiful life of mine as Mary Oliver would say.

Leonie: (33:51)

Um, and they have helped me create so much, so many blessings and miracles in my life. Um, so if you haven’t checked out the My Shining Year Goals, Workbooks, please do, like they are life changing. Make sure that you get them for your friends as well. So that you can do it together because I so deeply believe that when we as women and as heart centered beings step up to share our light bright with the world, it will change the world. So you can go to https:// myshiningyear.com to check them out. So that is my mega list of the best books of all time. I hope you found this useful. I hope it’s given you some inspiration and magic of books to add to your, to your reading list. And also, I do want to encourage you, if you’ve still got books at home that you haven’t read, don’t buy anymore. Just read the fucking books that you’ve got. That’s what I did last year. No bought books till you read everything you’ve got. And it was a brilliant project to do that too. All right guys, I hope you have a fucking brilliant day. I love you and let’s go make some magical miracles happen. Byeeee!