Summer is officially underway. Here are my recommendations to get it started right. If you need some beach reading I highly recommend The Complete Stories of Truman Capote. Provocative and humorous, Capote’s short fiction is captivating and perfectly suited for reading between dips in the pool The Power was a more substantial work and a complete mind … More Get Lit with Kit – June 2019
Marshall Goldsmith wrote about daily questions that can help you dominate your life’s circumstances. It requires reflection and daily practice, but if you root yourself in the present and follow through, the impact will be undeniable. Something else that will hopefully spark your introspection is Six Questions of Socrates. In it, Christopher Phillips explores pivotal questions of … More Get Lit with Kit – May 2019
I read a great article on Negotiation Styles. What particularly struck me was the idea of purpose – contract or relationship. Identifying the intent can help us move forward, especially if it allows us to reframe the situation and understand that taking a step back, can actually be progress. With that in mind, I loved (and … More Get Lit With Kit – April 2019
I read a great collection of short stories, Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh. If you’re a fan of Joyce Carol Oates, you’ll enjoy this American author as she explores the dark side of human nature. Also consumed was Robert Green’s Laws of Human Nature, a fascinating dissection of psychology and power dynamics. I particularly relished Green’s … More Get Lit with Kit – Best of January 2019
Earlier this month, I attended a conference at The Running School in London. The topic was biomechanics + neuromuscular repatterning as it relates to movement and pain management after injury or trauma. What was interesting was how multi-faceted the process is, especially considering the role that nutrition and sleep play in recovery. These are two … More Holistic Health: Applying Best Practices to Optimize Performance for Students
This month’s fiction is Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. It was one of those rare novels that actually made me pause before turning pages for fear of what I might find on the next one. If you are a fan of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, then I highly recommend reading Pachinko, set in Korea and Japan in … More Get Lit with Kit – Best of December
I finally got my hands on a copy of Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. His work echoed some of the epigenetic research. It’s encouraging to think that practice and repetition can free us from unhealthy patterns and facilitate mastery of skill. I tried to encapsulate the take aways in this Instagram post. Using that knowledge, and relying … More Get Lit with Kit – Best of October 2018
Beginning with books…it was a powerful few weeks. Primo Levi’s The Drowned and the Saved topped my list as it chronicled experiences in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and the subsequent psychology of World War Two survivors. Also significant, and saturated with humor, is Eddie Huang’s Fresh off the Boat. It’s a tongue in cheek memoir of his early … More Get Lit with Kit – Best of September 2018
I read Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education by Michael Pollan (name pun!!). It fascinated and inspired me to comment in my blog. Check out my piece Earthly Entitlements, then delve into Pollan’s work. I also enjoyed The Collected Stories by Alexandr Pushkin. There’s something about those Russians…It was a good way to cool down during this hot summer. 😉 A final … More Get Lit with Kit – Best of August 2018
I’ve been hearing about the benefits of transcendental meditation for years. This month I finally read Jack Forem’s book on the subject. I fully intend to explore further. Will keep you posted. (Along similar lines, this article on focus and attention can help you find the sweet spot and get things done in flow. It’s long, presumably to … More Get Lit with Kit – best of July 2018
Find the balance. 