Review: Phosphorescence

Title: Phosphorescence

Author: Julia Baird

Publisher: 23rd March 2020 by Harper Collins Australia

Pages: 320 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: biography, memoir, nonfiction

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

A beautiful, intimate and inspiring investigation into how we can find and nurture within ourselves that essential quality of internal happiness - the 'light within' that Julia Baird calls 'phosphorescence' - which will sustain us even through the darkest times.

Over the last decade, we have become better at knowing what brings us contentment, well-being and joy. We know, for example, that there are a few core truths to science of happiness. We know that being kind and altruistic makes us happy, that turning off devices, talking to people, forging relationships, living with meaning and delving into the concerns of others offer our best chance at achieving happiness. But how do we retain happiness? It often slips out of our hands as quickly as we find it. So, when we are exposed to, or learn, good things, how do we continue to burn with them?

And more than that, when our world goes dark, when we're overwhelmed by illness or heartbreak, loss or pain, how do we survive, stay alive or even bloom? In the muck and grit of a daily existence full of disappointments and a disturbing lack of control over many of the things that matter most - finite relationships, fragile health, fraying economies, a planet in peril - how do we find, nurture and carry our own inner, living light - a light to ward off the darkness?

Absorbing, achingly beautiful, inspiring and deeply moving, Julia Baird has written exactly the book we need for these times.

My Thoughts

The release of this book could not be more well timed with all that is currently going on in the world. Here author Julia Baird sheds light on seeking enjoyment through the little things in life,  purposefully recognising moments of awe that will assist in providing a move to mindfulness and acknowledgment of our place in the universe. She claims this book to be a ‘salve’ by finding the small things that keep one afloat in times of hardship, by seeking the comforts that keep you going.

‘... the answers to the question that inspired this book —how do we endure when suffering becomes unbearable and our obstacles seem monstrous? How do we continue to glow when the lights turn out? —are there, right in front of us, all the time. All we can do really is keep placing one foot on the earth, then the other, to seek out ancient paths and forests, certain in the knowledge that others have endured before us.’

Ask the right questions: 

‘instead of how do we stay happy, should we ask how do we survive, stay alive or even bloom when the world goes dark’

Take note of those special moments:

‘... we need to reach for those tiny drops of stillness. And they can fall throughout our day, in snatched or carved-out moments, even in the midst of working, commuting, loving.’

This book is a timely reminder to stay grounded even in uncertainty, positivity within brings a calm without. Take stock, take note, be reassured in the fact that little things can bring a lasting and positive impact to one’s life. Things to sustain you in moments of darkness.

‘... we have the ability to find, nurture and carry our own inner, living light —a light to ward off the darkness. This is not about burning brightly, but yielding simple phosphorescence —being luminous at temperatures below incandescence, quietly glowing without combusting.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.