Watch :: Read :: Listen
It’s all right here for you, ready to harvest
Watch: I reach for these when I need hope and inspiration
All of them move me to tears and give me full-body goosebumps
Kelly Corrigan’s piece Transcending: Words on Women + Strength where she talks about that “lean and catch thing” women do. It always makes me so damn glad I was born a woman.
Sheryl Lee Ralph singing at her Emmy acceptance speech, “I am an endangered species…I am a woman…I am an artist…and I know where my voice belongs.” Mic. Drop.
Valarie Kaur’s TED talk about revolutionary love in a time of rage. She reminds me to do as the midwifes tell us: Push! And then? Breathe… and that this might well be the darkness of the womb.
A Stronghold of Resistance is a short film by Drew Doggett on the wild horses of Sable Island. This haunts me—as the old woman’s voice who narrates it and the fact that she refers to the island as “her” and “she” feels like my own.
Abby Wambach’s commencement speech to the women of Barnard College. This reminds me of the power of our wolfish instincts, and how it will be our greatest salvation.
Keala Settle singing “This is Me” at rehearsal of The Greatest Showman. Never fails to inspire me—especially when she comes out from behind the music stand. Her power is palpable.
Jennifer Anniston in the boardroom (aka “the strong woman scene“) of The Morning Show. “Not quite the apology you were expecting?” BOOM.
Greta Thunberg speaking to leaders at UN Climate Action Summit. I want to be this brave and speak the hard truths of our world this plainly—and powerfully. This never fails to inspire me.
Beyoncé’s performance at Grammys when she was pregnant with twins. The opening (“Do you remember being born…are you thankful for the hips that cracked?”) plugs me into the power, beauty, and lineage of women.
Love, Actually, the opening scene of the movie. I could watch this short clip on an endless loop. It reminds me to look for the love in the ordinary moments around me.
Brené Brown speaking at the World Domination Summit—a deep track before she was well known, always makes me laugh, remember that choosing joy is courageous, and catches me if I’m “dress rehearsing disappointment”
Jonna Jinton’s channel on YouTube. Anything this woman does (start with this) is like balm for my soul, but this one gives me hope and faith in humanity—especially the old woman from Wyoming at the end.
Let me do the heavy lifting
You’re busy, I get it. You don’t have time to read all those amazing books people keep telling you about.
I read constantly. What you might not know is that I also take notes on what I’ve read—I make art to get it in my bones.
In school, we called these “Cliff notes”. At work, we used to refer to them as “abstracts”. I like to call them “Lael notes”
So have at it, my friend. Here’s what I’ve got in a downloadable PDF format to read on the fly.
Read: A selection of my favorite books, organized by topic just for you
Click on each topic to reveal books listed inside—a red link will take you to a PDF of Lael Notes you can download
Women's Ways: Power + Leading
If Women Rose Rooted: A Life-Changing Journey to Authenticity & Belonging by Sharon Blackie
See No Stranger: A Memoir and A Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Cassandra Speaks: When Women are The Storytellers, the Human Story Changes by Elizabeth Lesser
Wolfpack: How to Come Together, Unleash our Power, and Change the Game by Abby Wambach
Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World by Jean Shinoda Bolen
Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of The Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Ignite: Lighting the Leader Fire by me, Lael 🙂
Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst ‘Best Practices’ of Business Today by Susan Scott
Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity by Margaret Wheatley
Witch: Unleashed, Untamed, Unapologetic by Lisa Lister
Donut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raworth
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
The Witches are Coming by Lindy West
The Power (a novel) by Naomi Alderman
Change + Transition
Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful and Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms by Danielle LaPorte
Professional Troublemaker: The Fear Fighter’s Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones
Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
Managing Transitions by Bill Bridges
Women's Spirituality: Magic + Mystery
Crossing to Avalon: A Woman’s Mid-Life Quest for the Sacred Feminine by Jean Shinoda Bolen
The Feminine Face of God: The Unfolding of the Sacred in Women by Sherry Ruth Anderson and Patricia Hopkins
This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley
Mary Magdalene Revealed by Meggan Watterson
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman’s Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine by Sue Monk Kidd (or her fictional books on the same subject, which feel real, Secret Life of Bees, The Book of Longing)
A Secret History of Witches (a novel) by Louisa Morgan
A Discovery of Witches (a novel) by Deborah Harkness
The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of Everyday by Sharon Blackie
Older Women: Aging, Crones + Menopause
Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life by Sharon Blackie
The Seven Sacred Rites of Menopause: The Spiritual Journey to the Wise-Woman Years by Kristi Meisenbach Boylan
The Space Crone by Ursula Le Guin (an essay in Dancing at the Edge of the World)
Dangerous Old Woman: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Counter-Culture: Rest, Wholeness + Cycles
Rest as Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey—this broke my brain (in a good way) around how I was participating in the “grind culture” without realizing it—and inspired me to make major changes as a result.
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
Unscripted: A Woman’s Living Prayer by me, Lael 😉
Stolen Focus—Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
Bittersweet: How Sorry and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain
In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honore
The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen
Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katharine May
Anti-Racism + White Feminism
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabella Wilkerson
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers her Superpowers by Brittany Cooper
White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck
White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Humad
Environment + Climate Crisis
All That We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkenson
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Kimmerer
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Creativity + Making
Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Were Meant to Live by Melanie Falick
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
This Time I Dance: Creating the Work You Love by Tama Kieves
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