A Reading List of (Non-Fiction) Books to Rediscover Yourself Outside of Your Pain

Seek out these books in moments of stillness. In moments of fullness. When you feel the pain is the most distant and your focus on your life in the present moment is what consumes your thoughts. When healing from trauma, it can often feel impossible to open our hearts to the level of compassion that is required to rediscover who we are outside of our pain and our suffering and every experience that caused them. Not only because it feels like a betrayal of ourselves (what we've been through and how it affected us), but also because opening our hearts to any extent can feel too vulnerable (and thus, too dangerous).

The messages in these books are not something to be undertaken lightly. These are books I recommend reading slowly (rather than devouring). Sit with each page, each sentence, each thought that surprises you or brings up defensiveness in you. You don't have to reach the conclusion that you agree, but you should seek a greater understanding of why you don't. Discovering who you are - what you think, how you feel, why you like what you like and don't what you don't - is key to healing fully and I believe that these books help greatly in that pursuit.