People, places, and topics to motivate you

Books, movies, and television to inspire you

+ a favourite influencer on what REFRESHES her. Keep scrolling!

By Heather Fegan

Books

Three memoirs from strong, brave, inspiring women

Nerve
A Personal Journey through the Science of Fear
Eva Holland
Penguin Random House
$32.95, 288 pages

In 2015, Eva Holland was forced to confront her greatest fear when her mother had a stroke and suddenly passed away. After the shock and grief subsided, Holland began to examine the extent to which her many fears had limited her, and wondered whether or not it was possible to move past them.

Holland shares her journey exploring her relationship with fear in her international best-selling book, Nerve. It’s a captivating read on the science of fear and facing our fears. Thoroughly researched, Holland succeeds in articulating complex scientific reasonings and explanations in a refreshing and accessible way.

Nerve is also filled with personal anecdotes and insights from Holland, who guinea pigs her way fear by personal fear through an exploration of facing and conquering her fears.

By immersing herself in her own fears, Holland faces them head-on in the quest for answers. Why do we feel fear? Where do phobias come from and how are they related to anxiety disorders and trauma? Can you really smell fear?What would it be like to feel no fear? Is there a cure for fear? Holland addresses these questions and more inside Nerve.

Fear is a universal human experience and Nerve is Holland’s intimate journey through the science of facing our fears in all the right--and as she learns, wrong--ways. Holland is brave for taking us along for the ride.

Know My Name
A memoir
Chanel Miller
Penguin Random House
$24.00, 368 pages

Chanel Miller is the Emily Doe who Brock Turner was found sexually assaulting on Stanford University’s campus. Her victim impact statement, then anonymous, went viral, viewed by 11 million people in four days, after being posted on BuzzFeed.

It gave courage to thousands to share their own experiences of assault for the first time. It was read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law, and the recall of the judge in the case, where Turner was sentenced to just six months in county jail.

Know My Name is Miller’s memoir, where she reclaims her identity to tell her story, which as described by publisher Penguin Random House “illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life. Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humour, this memoir will stand as a modern classic.”

Untamed
Glennon Doyle
Penguin Random House
$37.00, 352 pages

This book is not new to shelves, but I was late to the party. Now you can call me a convert. Glennon has so much wisdom she imparts in this memoir. Concepts I wasn’t consciously attuned to, flipped right on their heads. I’m not one to read a book more than once, but I’ll be keeping this one, and all it’s gold nuggets highlighted, handy to fill me up when I need it, and remind me to trust myself, that I’m brave, and we can do hard things. Watch for Get Untamed: The Journal, coming this fall.

From the publisher: There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful, hiding our discontent—even from ourselves.

Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is the story of navigating divorce, forming a new blended family, and discovering that the brokenness or wholeness of a family depends not on its structure but on each member’s ability to bring her full self to the table. And it is the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honour our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts so that we become women who can finally look at ourselves and say: There She Is.

Untamed shows us how to be brave. As Glennon insists: The braver we are, the luckier we get.

Read about Spring Cleaning for your Mental Health, including a list of resources liked Untamed.

Television Shows

Three binge-worthy shows with smart, brave, inspiring female leads -- all adapted from the page

The Handmaid’s Tale

This dystopian drama gets really close to drawing far too many parallels to real life. In fact, Atwood has explained that everything that happens in her tale is something that has happened or is happening somewhere in the world. Clearly not all at once - but still. Throw a global pandemic into the mix and we’re now aware that anything can happen, things we never thought we’d live to experience. The show is back with season hour and Esliabeth Moss is fierce as ever. As much as I love this show that keeps me on the edge of my seat, I cannot wait for it to end so I can find out what happens, though I predict--and fear--the outcome won’t be great for June in the end.

Adapted from the classic novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized "return to traditional values." As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is a Handmaid in the Commander's household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids--where anyone could be a spy for Gilead--all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.

The Queen’s Gambit

Bingeing this show sparked conversations with my husband of the true cost of genius. If your child is demonstrating excellence in a field, do you help them pursue, excel, and dominate at all costs, stepping out of the mainstream and giving up a regular childhood and the relationships within it, or keep them grounded in the status quo, experiencing a more “normal” upbringing and all the rites of passage of growing up in the status quo? I think if you truly have a prodigy, a child with an exceptional gift, then pursue it. It will make for a way more interesting upbringing to reflect on down the road. Otherwise, I think it’s all about balancing a talent and a passion with regular life, a solid education, and solid relationships.

Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the Netflix limited series drama The Queen's Gambit is a coming-of-age story that explores the true cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children. Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess.

Firefly Lane

I’m a little bit biased with this guilty-pleasure binge, given the connection to the theme of journalism, a connection to and reflection of my life (plus the topic of celebrity and the magazine world, both personal interests of mine). I relate to Kate, who chose motherhood over advancing her career. I too hit pause on my full-time job eight years ago to stay home with my kids. Kate even returns to the magazine industry (hello!). I had to laugh when she shows up, the oldest in a young, hip, millennial office. That would totally be me.

I haven’t read the book by Kristen Hannah, but I just may have to pick it up to find out how things end if season two doesn’t come around fast enough. That is, if they haven’t spun off into an untold storyline? The creators do a great job with their cliffhangers. Even if I didn’t have time to watch another episode, I still had to watch at least the first five minutes of the next one so I’d know exactly what was going on. The creators knew what they were doing!

The greatest love story of all can be between friends. When unlikely duo Tully (Katherine Heigl) and Kate (Sarah Chalke) meet at age fourteen, they couldn't be more different. Tully is the brash and bold girl you can't ignore, while Kate is the mousy shy girl you never notice. But when a tragedy brings them together, they are bonded for life -- forever inseparable best friends. Together they experience thirty years of ups and downs -- triumphs and disappointments, heartbreak and joy, and a love triangle that strains their friendship. One goes on to fabulous wealth and fame, the other chooses marriage and motherhood -- but through the decades, their bond remains -- until it faces the ultimate test.

Movies

A collection of three thought-provoking films to watch right now

Nomadland

Nomandland is a beautiful film exploring life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. Featuring real nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells gives this movie a documentary-like feel. Be captivated as Frances McDormand, as Fern, explores the American West in a new-to-most, entirely different, and eye-opening perspective of the van-living “houseless not homeless” nomadic life.

Promising Young Woman

The dramatic thriller Promising Young Woman sees Carey Mulligan playing a traumatized young woman seeking revenge on those involved in a tragic event from her past, as she tries to right the worst kind of wrongs. Disturbing at times to watch, with its challenging and troubling subject matter, this modern day horror movie meets rom-com is a timely and important film during the #metoo era. Mulligan’s character is equal parts psycho and brilliant.

Soul

Pixar has done it again with Soul, when a middle-school band teacher and Jazz musician finds himself trapped in another realm somewhere between Earth and the After-life, helping someone find their passion. In the process he discovers what it means to have soul, and it’s not at all what he believed. A repeat viewing may just be required to sort out the complexities of this moving (tear-jerking) movie that you’ll be contemplating over long after the credits finish rolling. This is all-ages entertainment, fun for kids and oh so philosophical, inspiring us to live life to the fullest and appreciate the life we have, with all its simple and glorious meaning.

Influencer Insights

In this issue we ask a favourite influencer what REFRESHES her. Here’s what Thanh at Love and Sundays has to say :

The sound of kids playing and laughing
The smell of freshly baked sourdough
The smell and warmth of bed linens fresh out of the dryer
Random acts of kindness from strangers... it makes me believe society has a chance