I guess I am behind again. The first time I heard the term “doomscrolling” was several days ago when someone tweeted that they looked forward to when they could just read a good book at bedtime instead of doomscrolling. I presume they were referring to getting past the election in two weeks. It resonated with me.

Doing a google search, I see articles going back to the summer months about doomscrolling and anxiety and how to break the cycle. It is described as the practice of endlessly consuming doom-and-gloom news. I find myself looking to see what awful things have happened, been spoken, or tweeted when I get up in the morning and again late at night.

The practice of always having a good book that I’m reading has been harder since this pandemic started. A novel I had just started in early March was set aside for months. I just couldn’t concentrate on reading a book in those early months. A political book I was reading was also set aside. I realized I didn’t need to know the inside story about all the outrageous things that had happened since 2016. I eventually finished the novel though I had to go back many pages to refamiliarize myself with the characters. I have yet to pick up that particular political book again and probably never will.

I just finished a novel that I would highly recommend – “The Daughters of Erietown” by Connie Schultz. It is an excellent story starting in the mid-1940s tracking four generations of women in a northeast Ohio town. It weaves daily life in a blue-collar community with significant historical events including the 1970 shootings at Kent State and the early days of the women’s movement. And yes, I am open to recommendations on my next novel.

I’ve started a non-fiction business book that one of my coachees sent me a while back – “Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder” by Chip Conley. It is described as part manifesto and part playbook for how to become indispensable in the second half of your working life. One of the questions Conley poses: “How do you reframe a lifetime of experience?” His response: “New rites of passage for midlife help to repurpose wisdom and inspire a sense of relevance through the Modern Elder skill-building process of: Evolve, Learn, Collaborate, and Counsel”. He describes the qualities of a Modern Elder as good judgment, unvarnished insight, emotional intelligence, holistic thinking, and stewardship. What I get from this book will serve to hone my own skills as I continue my commitment to developing next generation leaders.

My non-fiction books are usually political or business (broadly defined with a lot on leadership). When I’m done with this current book, I’m looking for a political book that will inspire me, not make me more outraged. My husband has suggested Dan Rather’s book, “What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism”. I find his current essays very insightful and hopeful so that may just be my next choice. Or maybe I’ll settle on an inspiring biography that I haven’t yet read. That genre of books harkens back to my grade school years when I liked to pick out a biography of a famous woman on our library trips. For those of you who know me, that probably doesn’t surprise you. And yes, I read “Becoming” by Michelle Obama last year – another book I highly recommend.

This is the time of the year when I would start the hunt for the perfect gift book. During my years as a full-time CIO, I would give a book to my leadership team at the holidays. I would stress about it for several weeks, make a few trips to the bookstore to read book covers and descriptions, and eventually settle on a title and do a big bulk order.

Over the years they included books by Dr. Atul Gawande – “Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science” and “Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance”, “Mountains Beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder, “Steve Jobs: A Biography” by Walter Isaacson, “Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self Interest” by Peter Block, and “The Ten Faces of Innovation” by Tom Kelly. There were many more titles that I can’t remember. When I look at my crowded bookshelves, I’m not sure which books I gave them (because I always bought a copy for myself too) vs which ones I bought or were given at some point.

My other gift book shopping at this time of year is for my four grandchildren and six grand nieces and nephews. Obviously, this is not one perfect title bought in bulk, but 10 different books that I carefully select (with input from their parents of course). I try to instill in them all a love of reading. The age range for them is from 4 to 17 so any recommendations are welcome!

So, what will you be doing tonight? Hopefully reading a good book and not doomscrolling.

Related Post:

Vote your values