Chapter 1: July
Plus, the introduction—to the book *and* this experiment
Hi friend,
And welcome to THE YEAR OF LESS 10-Year Reunion Book Club! Over the next 12 weeks, I will slowly be re-reading my first book and reflecting on one chapter each week. New posts will come out every Sunday until August 18th.
As you know, one of the reasons I wanted to do this was to give myself the space to write more about THE YEAR OF LESS. To be able to reflect on this experiment I did 10 years ago, and share more of who I am and how I think/feel today. But the other reason is that I’ve had a challenging relationship with this book, since it came out in 2018… and I’m curious if this experiment might help shift that.
After reading just the introduction alone, I realized: this whole project is actually going to be an experiment of its own—and I want to treat it as such. So, here are a few things I want you to know about before we get started:
I did not re-read the book, before deciding to do this. Until last week, I hadn’t opened it up since a book event I did in 2019. So I have no pre-conceived ideas about what I might write here. I don’t know exactly what the “more” is that I want to say. We will be discovering this together.
I feel a bit afraid/anxious about re-reading the book. Again, I don’t know exactly why… but it also makes sense, right? Imagine having a challenging relationship with a human. The thought of spending time with them could naturally bring on some anxiety. That’s how I feel, at the start of this. I want to examine how I feel all throughout the project.
I trust this is an experiment I can complete. I might be a little afraid/anxious, but I also know this is something I can and want to do for myself. And, it feels important to have a little support, whenever you try something that feels new and big. For this experiment, I’ll be checking in with a close friend who has also read my work for more than a decade.
I feel so grateful to have you here with me—and I can’t wait to hear what might come up for you too, if you choose to read or follow along!
Ok, now that I’ve set this project/experiment up… let’s dive in!