Spring is in full swing and if you’re like us, you’re on the look-out for great deals, great books, and great giveaways. We’ve got a combination of all of the above, thanks to the generosity of Dale Curd and Kim Alexander (Curd). They’re giving away five signed hardcover copies of their book, Living Lightly: Bring Happiness and Calm to Your Everyday. Yes, you read that right. 5! But before you enter the giveaway, check out the book’s details:
Title - Living Lightly
Author - Dale Curd and Kimberly Alexander
Genre - Personal Growth / Happiness / SELF-HELP / Motivational & Inspirational / BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Mindfulness & Meditation
Publisher - Harper Collins Canada
Book Blurb –
EMBRACE THE PRESENT AND FIND CALM AND JOY—EVERY DAY
Living Lightly is a daily devotional that offers a year’s worth of opportunities to commune, in the deepest and most beautiful sense of that word, with your self and your life. Partners and therapists, Dale and Kim Curd step through the universal doorways of life and offer us a nudge to slow down and experiences to help return us to our selves. Their personal reflections invoke gentle introspection and come from their own healing journeys and from being active therapists. Living Lightly invites you to explore how your mind works, understand and express your feelings and be reminded that you are much, much stronger than you realize. Living Lightly is a great way to start or end the day.
Excerpt –
Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from overwhelm. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we ́ve built our lives around. Real freedom. —Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus
Less is truly more.
That’s the underlying principle behind Josh Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus’s approach to minimalism. Their bestselling books, website, podcast and documentary revolve around the liberating effect on our lives of loosening the unconscious emotional bonds we have to our things; this in turn lets us choose what is meaningful in our lives, showing us how we can have less and become lighter, more aware and free.
Both Millburn and Ryan began their lives in families without a lot of wealth and went on to make money, only to struggle to find meaning in their work and lives. Their brand of minimalism is based on a discipline of conscious choice rather than simple deprivation. Both men would argue that the latter approach only increases our hunger for a given thing. Conscious choice, on the other hand, means we ask ourselves what is really important, and whether having an item helps us achieve what is important. We also need to question whether the cost of having that thing forces us to sacrifice or compromise in other parts of our lives that matter more.
Years ago I forced myself into an experiment that helped me look at my relationship to stuff. It began as a challenge: put $140 in an envelope to represent a week’s worth of spending (not discretionary spending—total spending!). I gave myself twenty dollars per day, and if I didn’t spend the full amount, I would carry what was left over to the next day—but I couldn’t take from the next day if I had spent my day’s allotment. The challenge was to repeat this weekly for six weeks and see what changes took place.
Briefly, here’s what changed:
• I shopped more frugally, ate healthier food and spent more time preparing meals with my family.
• I spent less time driving and more time taking transit and walking, which gave me more time to read.
• I hosted people more often instead of going out, and our get-togethers were more fun.
• I made coffee at home and brought it with me, and it was far better tasting than what I was buying before.
My average spending per day was just under seven dollars, and not once did I feel stressed about money or think that I had less!
Initially, my ego had screamed at me about how crazy I was, insisting that I maintain my spending and accumulating behaviours. But I learned that much of my consumption was done out of boredom or convenience, comparison or distraction. I soon became aware that my contentment really did come from the simplest pleasures.
Today I invite you to check out Millburn and Nicodemus’s site, theminimalists.com, and discover for yourself which attachments may have the greatest cost to your lightness and well-being.
Buy Links –
Giveaway –
Enter to win an autographed hardcover copy of Living Lightly: Bring Happiness and Calm to Your Everyday by Dale Curd and Kimberly Alexander (Curd).
Open to US residents only.
Runs April 10 – 30.
Drawing will be held on May 1.
Author Biography - About Dale and Kim
Dale is a mental health professional, the host of CBC TV’s Hello Goodbye and a co-host of Life Story Project on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The creator of an acclaimed Empathetic Listening Method, Dale leads specialized workshops for law enforcement, hospitals and corporations across North America.
Kim spent twenty years in the tech startup world, helping to launch successful online companies in US banking, healthcare, organizational collaboration, and international development. She has traveled extensively and considers travel one of her greatest pleasures. In 2014 she completed her training as a therapist, merging her worlds of technology and therapy, by offering clients online video counseling. Kim is a lifelong learner, always engaged in activities and ventures that expand her self-awareness, from writing, raising animals, to listening to horses and trees.
Dale and Kim founded The Child Therapy List and The Men’s List, two global, online mental wellness professional directories, to help normalize therapy and end mental health stigma. They created LivingLightlyToday.com as an online community to acknowledge and connect with readers and inspire people to share in their passion for beauty. In 2015 Dale and Kim left city life to live on a historic farm in Muskoka.
www.livinglightlytoday.com is a growing online community of souls committed to living fully, exploring new experiences, making new discoveries in our inner and outer landscapes. Dale and Kim are so excited for your images and stories, of beauty and connection. Come join the journey—we are waiting for you!
Social Media Links –
Facebook: www.facebook.com/livinglightlytoday
Twitter: www.twitter.com/livelighttoday