{"id":11645,"date":"2015-09-01T01:10:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T06:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=12227"},"modified":"2017-09-18T19:09:11","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T00:09:11","slug":"book-review-start-where-you-are-a-journal-for-self-exploration-by-meera-lee-patel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2015\/09\/01\/book-review-start-where-you-are-a-journal-for-self-exploration-by-meera-lee-patel\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Start Where You Are: A Journal for Self-Exploration by Meera Lee Patel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Start Where You Are: A Journal for Self-Exploration<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Start\"<\/p>\n

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By: <\/b><\/span>Meera Lee Patel<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Paperback:<\/b><\/span>\u00a0128 pages<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/b><\/span>\u00a0Perigee Books (August 11, 2015)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Language:<\/b><\/span>\u00a0English<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

New on the shelves this August past is Meera Lee Patel’s book\u00a0<\/span>Start Where You Are<\/i><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Start Where You Are<\/i>\u00a0is a skillful combination of beautiful and playful watercolors, inspirational quotes, and exercises or prompts to help express yourself. The art is cute and kept simple, working perfectly in combination with the selection of quotes. Ranging from Ayn Rand to Yogananda, I found some of the quotes to be rather bland, but even then Ms. Patel’s brushwork succeeded in elevating the words to the height of their sentiment.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is in this way that\u00a0Start Where You Are<\/i>\u00a0is very much more than the sum of its parts. While I could summarize it as an engaging cross between a cute calendar and a self-help activity book \u2013 or perhaps an artist and a therapist \u2013 this would miss just how well the book is executed, how skillfully those parts combine. The whimsical illustrations of Patel’s watercolors encourage a doodling creativity and a freedom of expression. In fact,\u00a0Start Where You Are<\/i>\u00a0is a great introduction to visual journaling itself. It would work well as a gift for someone who likes to express themselves visually, or someone who wants to but does not know where to begin. The exercises are perfect to break the ice when the empty page has become too intimidating on its own.<\/p>\n

But the questions posed in the exercises can work as profoundly as you want them to. Subtitled\u00a0a Journal for Self-Exploration<\/i>, the book’s exercises work well as prompts for introspection and self discovery when taken with honesty. In this way, I really had to pause and think at, \u201cThink of something you lost recently. What are two positive insights you gained from the experience?\u201d As ‘loss’ can be a profound word and ‘recent’ is in relation to the loss, ‘keys’ seems like an dishonest easy answer. When loss is profound, insights that are positive may require seeking.<\/p>\n

While there are drawing, coloring, and free writing exercises, most of the activities consist of lists of one type or other. This kind of self cataloging, \u201cWrite down ten big dreams that haven’t come true yet\u201d and \u201cWhat are your three most frequent thoughts? What do you wish they would be?\u201d can endear this book to younger adults still defining themselves or the habitual magazine survey taker. Conversely of course the questions, when taken seriously, become more profound with age. Who did I think I would be at this age? Who do I think I am now? How do my values match up with my daily choices and where I actually spend my time.<\/p>\n

These questions are as difficult as you allow yourself to get away with. But with color, maybe disguised in casual drawings, maybe they can be less threatening. We are all in the process of charting our own inner landscape, and\u00a0Start Where You Are<\/i>\u00a0is a great tool to document the journey and an encouragement to smile.<\/p>\n

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