Welcome to Book Club
A little book that inspires you to live from your truth.
In about every phase of my life, I’ve considered the idea of starting a book club. There is just something so romantic about it that really draws me in. I thought up a book club for books about sexuality. And a book club for spicy novels only. Or a simple neighborhood book club where we read Oprah’s book picks together. But I figured that would just turn into a girl’s night and in that case I should just start a wine club. Which I did do once.
After all the years and life phases that I’ve spent on pondering a book club. This time, I am starting it. We’re going to keep this casual and easy. I’m always reading something and sharing those books. But I love the idea of reading them together and having a theme that can carry through each book that we read.
In book club, I want to read the ones that inspire truth. The ones that help you come home to yourself. That remind you of the importance of living from an honest place. Books that challenge your thinking and encourage you to live in your truth. That you finish and feel compelled to be a little bit bolder.
Many of you who are here, have a desire for more in your life. A passion to be your greatest self. A curiosity to learn more about what it means to live. And a longing to discover what life has in store for you. We get to these places by choosing things that expand us and choosing things that help us do that. Books are one of those things. The books we read influence who we are. Read powerful books and you become a powerful person. Here we are reading books about living in your truth, so we can also live in our truth.
For this first book, we are reading Fear of Flying, by Erica Jong. You may have already read it, but if not, I hope you read it with me as an introduction to book club.
Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
This isn’t a new book, in fact my copy has the 50th anniversary emblem on it. It was written in 1973, so some of you might already know it. I had been searching for a book to begin book club, because until I could find books that felt compelling enough to read and write about, book club wouldn't begin.
Fear of Flyingis a book that I wish I’d found sooner. It came into my orbit and I immediately knew this was the first pick for book club. Choosing books is the most challenging part, because you want them to perfectly embody the energy we are trying to create.
Fear of Flying is story of becoming, but not in the linear way that we grow up and become ourselves. It’s through the ways we discover sexuality and relationships through the multitude of experiences we have in life. The character Isadora, shares the messy, raw and vulnerable ways that we become ourselves. She talks about the parts of life we are often too scared to admit or ever speak out loud.
In that way, it’s relatable, because I think we all experience this, even if we don’t know it. I believe each of us constantly has many thoughts and curious ideas that pass over us. Some we would never say, but they might be ideas that actually govern our moral dilemmas or incongruence in our life and the way we discover ourselves through what they reveal. In the book, not a single one of these passes without being analyzed for what it might mean - whether for herself or society.
Fear of Flying has themes of family relationships, relationships dynamics, partnership, discovering sexuality, finding who you are, and social constructs. Each one is the battle between what is expected and what is yours. How do we find the balance? When do you adhere to what is expected and when do you choose to fly?
Every dilemma and question about life stems from Isadora’s questioning around sexuality and the values of sexuality. She has a desire to experience sexuality in a way that is deemed unacceptable and frowned upon in the world she lives in. Every inner battle she experiences results from this ever present moral dilemma that she is constantly grappling with.
Even though the book is written in the 70’s it has a timeless feel because what it touches within humanity is as present now as it ever was. How we discover our sexuality throughout life, within ourselves and how it evolves is something every person will encounter at any stage of life. Erica Jong’s expression of this through the character Isadora, opens a door that welcomes the reader to discover their messy truth and face it with honesty.
We all have a fear of flying in us somewhere. It’s that desire to let go and be who we are. To say screw it to the expectations and the constructs and choose what we are longing for. To conquer the fear that we fight with. So often, we know exactly what we want, but fear of what something else has told us to fear, gets in the way of choosing. We spend much of our lives learning to get through the fear and choose to fly.
Let Fear of Flying be your permission slip to begin flying a little bit more even when it’s hard to get off the ground or the plan is a little bumpy.
xx Megan
I’m excited to have us all read Fear of Flying and get inspired to be a little bit bolder.