The S’Lowdown on: Bigger Than Us

My book recommendation this month is Bigger Than Us: the power of finding meaning in a messy world, by Fearne Cotton.

What I love most about Fearne is that she’s always totally authentic – her writing is warm and chatty. She’s the same on the page as she is on her podcasts or on social media – and when it comes to exploring big subjects like this – that’s exactly what I want. I don’t want preachy stuff, I don’t want to feel ‘less than’ for not knowing things, I want to learn and discover and feel good about myself in the process. That’s what reading this book felt like to me – Fearne takes the reader on her own journey of exploration and understanding and relays it as a friend. 

If you read my piece on stress awareness this month you’ll know I talked about that sense of belonging we all need in order to feel seen in the world. The book speaks to many of the values we hold here at Swallowtail Hill – the importance of time to connect with self, each other and nature;  the value of paying close attention to and cultivating greater awareness of life no matter how messy and difficult that might be.  

Fearne writes, “When we are disconnected, we feel bleak, hopeless, helpless and dull. Connection is where all the meaning lives. We can experience things in life yet be totally disconnected, but when we engage with life and the universe around us fully, that’s where we’ll be able to access the missing puzzle piece – meaning.”  YES! This is exactly what I’m always banging on about!

The book is a deep dive into spirituality – the search for meaning that many of us are driven by (because surely it all has to mean something right?!) and I really took comfort from it.  If you’re someone who questions how your own self-limiting beliefs might be holding you back from finding greater purpose and contentment then I think this will resonate. Have a read and let me know what you think!