I Created a Book Club!

My bookshelf is crammed full of books. In fact, my bookshelf, my 'dvd shelf', my bedside table, my wardrobe...is crammed full of books.

My library history is full of nearly the same 'type' of book. And my Instagram feed is full of quotes and snaps of books that inspire me and bring goodness into my life. And that's exactly the kind of book we all need once in a while. No one can resist a good story that sucks us in and take us off into another world for an hour but the books I REALLY love are those that are 'good for the soul'...no I'm not just talking about the Self Help section in Waterstones.

I'm talking about the Marie Kondo's - yes I am learning how to Kon-Mari my shit. I'm talking about the Diane Von Furstenberg's. The Miss Moneypenny's. The Robin Sharma's and the Sophie Amoruso's. The books that encourage us to think outside the box, the books that teach us about the meaning's of life, the books that nurture us and encourage us to grow into unbelievably incredible people.

And it turned out after chattering to a few fellow book worms I'm not the only one obsessed with these thought-food books.

And so I decided to create a book club.

A book club which is named after one of the most inspiring women to have every walked the planet - Samurai warrior, Tomoe Gozen. 

She fought alongside male samurais in the Genpei War. She was a strong woman who fought amongst strong men. She was an incredible archer and a swordsman. She was ready to face battle on foot or horseback AT ANY TIME. She was beautiful. Fearless. And respected. 

This is what I hope to bring to the book club. Beauty, fearlessness and respect.

It'll be more than just a book club - it'll be a place for us to share stories and be inspired whilst encouraging and supporting each other. It won't be a feminist group that slates men. It'll be a place to build relationships and a place for friendship. It will be a place for bookworms! Of course! 

The first few members are joining and I'd love it if you'd like to join too! Just follow this link to request your place and please let me know of any amazing, inspiring books you have read recently! 

D x

Going Meat Free

I think I've always been a little naive when it comes to grub. I don't think I've ever really thought about what goes into my tummy pre 2012. Why 2012? Well in 2012 I went through some anxiety problems and my body reacted by developing IBS. This is something I have now learnt to manage through various different means which I am sure I will share with you all soon.

However, this year I made a pledge to myself to get healthy and stay healthy.

Not so much because I want to lose weight - yoyo diets ain't my thing! But more in a bid to take better care of me. It got me thinking...what might help my health and help my IBS. Well a chat with a few friends persuaded me to try removing meat. Just for a little while.

And then this opened a pretty large can of worms.

Have any of you watched Cowspiracy?

Don't worry I'm not going off on a tangent here.

Cowspiracy, if you haven't seen it, is a documentary film which you can watch on Netflix about how the animal agriculture industry is the leading cause of Amazon deforestation as well as a HUGE factor on global warming. And it's all largely down to the amount of water this industry uses. One hamburger can use up over 600 gallons of water. I do not joke.

Amazing huh?

 So on one hand I've got this 'healthy body, healthy mind' mantra going on and on the other hand I've just been slapped in the face with reality about the future status of our planet.

Pretty.

Heavy.

Stuff.

I might not be able to change the world with my small contribution to going meat free but I'm interested in exploring the pros and the cons of going Vegetarian for a while, both to help the environment and to help my self. So here it goes...

Do any of you have any tips on going meat free? Or do you have any thoughts on Cowspiracy?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin