2021 Summer Read Highlights Resiliency | Transforming Health

The 2021 Summer Read highlights resiliency

Mental Health After a Pandemic

Some have called the COVID-19 pandemic an equalizer or a shared experience, in that every single one of us has been impacted. We have all experienced a degree of fear, isolation or worry. What remains to be seen is how these feelings will impact our mental health.

On “Transforming Health: Mental Health After a Pandemic” we’ll hear from individuals who already had mental health concerns and then had to navigate through a pandemic. They’ll share their tips for others. Plus, why some feel connection and a sense of belonging will be the key to moving forward.

By Keira McGuire June 16, 2021 | 4:56 PM

'You Belong' by Sebene Selassie — ‘You Belong’ by Sebene Selassie

The Transforming Health Summer Read project celebrates its 9th year in 2021. We’re excited to present You Belong: A Call for Connection by Sebene Selassie as this year’s selection. Our goal this year is to align Summer Read to compliment Transforming Health’s “Here With You”–a special campaign designed to promote physical and mental resiliency as we all grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these difficult times, there is one thing we know we can do – come together – virtually and hopefully soon in person. We can find ways to help the most vulnerable members of our community and encourage each other and our families to maintain our health and mental wellness. We feel You Belong is a great fit as it’s an inspirational book with a focus on connection.

We are not separate from each other. But we don’t always believe it, and we certainly don’t always practice it. In fact, we often practice the opposite—disconnection and domination. From unconscious bias to “cancel culture,” denial of our inherent interconnection limits our own freedom.

Sebene Selassie, author of 'You Belong' — Sebene Selassie, author of ‘You Belong’

In You Belong, much-admired meditation expert Sebene Selassie reveals that accepting our belonging is the key to facing the many challenges currently impacting our world. Using ancient philosophy, multidisciplinary research, exquisite storytelling, and razor-sharp wit, Selassie leads us in an exploration of all the ways we separate (and thus suffer) and offers a map back to belonging.

The book will be a conversation starter. All summer long readers throughout Central Pennsylvania will be encouraged to check out both digital and hard copies of the book from their local library and talk about it with friends, family, coworkers, and book discussion groups.

BEYOND THE PAGES

After reading the book, use this discussion guide (coming soon) to continue the conversation with other readers, and complete the survey to enter for a chance to win a copy of the book, a private signing with Sebene Selassie and the opportunity to hear her speak on Monday, October 11, 2021.

Entries must be submitted online or to your participating library by September 30, 2021.

Visit any of the following libraries to borrow the book and complete the survey.

The Summer Read is a unique community partnership of WITF’s Transforming Health, Aligning Forces for Quality- South Central PA and Central PA library systems with additional support from WellSpan Health and Capital BlueCross.

Previous Summer Read selections include:

2020-Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
2019-A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold
2018-Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, Sam Quinones
2017-Farmacology: Health from the Ground Up, Dr. Daphne Miller
2016-The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life, Janice Kaplan
2015-Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Atul Gawande
2014-Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time, Brigid Schulte
2013- The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, T.R. Reid