This Mental Health Awareness Month looks a little different for us, both at Da Shop and beyond. While we remain steadfast in our advocacy for positive mental health, we also recognize that pursuing wellness looks different for everyone and at different times. We sometimes find safety in breathwork and written reflections. At other moments, we locate wellness in reckoning with the social and political ills of our current moment and engaging in acts of resistance to protect ourselves and our communities. There is simply no perfect way to practice and prioritize mental health.
This month, we’re committed to expanding limitations around the concept of mental health and championing the myriad of ways that we care for ourselves and for each other. We encourage you to browse the titles below for a helpful place to begin:
Photo: Courtesy of Da Shop: Books + Curiosities
by Dahlia Malaeulu / Mila Books
Designed to offer Pasifika a space to explore and record their cultural identity journeys, the Pasifika Wellbeing Journal is interactive and expansive. Identity, cultural connection and mental health intersect in its pages, which feature gorgeous Pasifika patterns, designs and illustrations. Encouraging reflection, goal setting and personal growth, the journal supports the wellbeing of a generation of tamaiti and families who grasp the unparalleled power of being Pasifika. As thoughtful reflection is central to aiding one’s mental health, we can’t think of a better work to recommend. Intended for readers ages 10 and up.
And congratulations to Mila’s Books, publisher of the I Am Pasifika Wellbeing Journal, which was recently awarded the Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year in the Oceania category!
Photo: Courtesy of Da Shop: Books + Curiosities
by Timothy Snyder
A #1 New York Times bestseller and a top pick at Da Shop, On Tyranny is an essential read for anyone living in our current America. Recognizing the new and ongoing threats confronting our political order, author Timothy Snyder has assembled 20 lessons garnered from history, which he asserts “does not repeat, but it does instruct.” From this vantage, On Tyranny offers practical, insightful guidance adapted to the circumstances of today. It’s an incisive guide to resistance that ultimately calls for both deep calm and immense courage.
Photo: Courtesy of Da Shop: Books + Curiosities
by Adrienne Rich
A beautiful and deeply moving meditation on the role of poetry in contemporary politics and daily life, What is Found There by the great Adrienne Rich is an essential read. Braiding stunning poems with her profound recollections and analyses, Rich invites readers to consider the relationship between poetry and politics. Furthermore, she offers poetry as an instrument for change, pointing to the many ways poetry provides possibilities in a fractured, struggling country and wider world.
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by Jamieson Webster
This meditative work of narrative nonfiction takes breathing as a point of departure to investigate what binds us all in this era of climate catastrophe. Exploring the long history of thought on breath and her personal experience as a palliative psychologist, Webster confronts our society of anxiety, environmental racism and illness in new and insightful ways. Ultimately, On Breathing is a compassionate examination of the many ways we can care for ourselves and for our communities with whom we share breath.
by Omar El Akkad
This highly anticipated work by award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad reckons with living in the West, where ideals of freedom and justice are constantly being proven otherwise. Spanning his 20 years of reporting on the War on Terror, Black Lives Matter protests, climate change and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, Akkad grapples with timely moral questions and encourages us to do the same. This book is vulnerable and compellingly honest and reminds readers of how widespread care is needed now more than ever.
Whatever mental health looks like to you, we encourage you to spend time with this diverse selection of books, this month and in the months to come.
SEE ALSO: Books to Recenter Your Mind in the New Year
Da Shop: Books + Curiosities, 3565 Harding Ave., open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., (808) 421-9460, dashophnl.com, @dashophnl
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