Getting to Center: Pathways to Finding Yourself Within the Great Unknown

In this inviting guide, professional dancer Grace (How to Not Always Be Working) shares her lifelong struggle with finding happiness and contentment. Grace lists dozens of causes or triggers that can knock a person off center—grief, vulnerability, guilt, distractions, the pressure to be productive—and opens up about her own struggles with sobriety, impostor syndrome, and a contentious divorce. To deal with the vicissitudes of life, Grace encourages, among other things, praying, journaling, and making lists, as with her “To-Do List for When You’re Feeling Unlikable” which recommends as a remedy putting on a colorful outfit, going for a walk, or calling a friend who “knows you are the best.” And when one feels overwhelmed by responsibilities, she recommends “alone retreats.” Among the personal anecdotes, she writes of overcoming self-critical thoughts by posting online videos of herself dancing every day for a year. Any self-help reader will appreciate these novel ways to thrive in difficult moments. (Oct 27.)