Karen Walrond

"Karen Walrond shines her light so we can find our own." --Brené Brown Many of us have strong convictions. We want to advocate for causes we care about--but which ones? We want to work for change--but will the emotional toll lead to burn out? Leadership coach, lawyer, photographer, and activist Karen Walrond knows that when you care deeply about the world, light can seem hard to find. But when your activism grows out of your joy--and vice versa--you begin to see light everywhere. In The Lightmaker's Manifesto , Walrond helps us name the skills, values, and actions that bring us joy; identify the causes that spark our empathy and concern; and then put it all together to change the world. Creative and practical exercises, including journaling, daily intention-setting, and mindful self-compassion, are complemented by lively conversations with activists and thought leaders such as Valarie Kaur, Brené Brown, Tarana Burke, and Zuri Adele. With stories from around the world and wisdom from those leading movements for change, Walrond beckons readers toward lives of integrity, advocacy, conviction, and joy. By unearthing our passions and gifts, we learn how to joyfully advocate for justice, peace, and liberation. We learn how to become makers of light.

What if aging is something to aspire to, not to dread? What if together we could forge a radiant rebellion against the idea of aging as a season of decline? Join Karen Walrond, author of The Lightmaker's Manifesto , in this intriguing investigation into how we can reclaim aging, cultivate joy, and resist ageism. During her own year of transition--a milestone birthday, a wedding anniversary, the emptying of the nest--Walrond, in the buoyant and luminous style her readers have come to love, does a deep dive into dimensions of getting older, including health, beauty, spirituality, connection, adventure, and meaning and purpose. Through conversations with social workers and neurologists, activists and clergy, Walrond satisfies her curiosity--and ours--about why the dominant culture treats aging as a time of dwindling capacity. She also embarks on a series of experiments that help her rebel against letting her hair go naturally gray, going on a silent retreat, revamping her health practices, and plotting her next adventure. Internalized ageism--bias against our future selves--is not our only option; we can write a different story of aging than the one we've been handed. With wisdom from luminaries who light our way, Walrond helps us radiantly rebel against the fads and assumptions that hold us back, redefine the adventure of getting older, and create a shining future of expanded potential. We might even raise a little hell while we're at it! A resources section offers journal prompts and strategies for creating a handbook for your own radiant rebellion.

Constantly bombarded with messages on how to think, how to feel, how to look, it can be very easy to fall into the mindset that we somehow fail as individuals, that we are not enough. But the truth is, those aspects of ourselves that make us individuals are actually the source of our own beauty, our super power. The Beauty of Different explores beauty in nine fresh ways and challenges the reader to revel in her own uniqueness. Combining beautiful imagery, portraiture, insightful commentary, essays, and interviews, this multisensory exploration of what is really beautiful provokes deeper self-discovery. Designed to connect and inspire, The Beauty of Different encourages the reader to reframe her differences, not as shortcomings, but as characteristics of distinction―maybe even superpowers.

Resist grind culture and discover the joy of dabbling.From Karen Walrond, author of The Lightmaker's Manifesto and Radiant Rebellion, comes a delightful jaunt into how to be a total amateur--by doing the things you love even if you're not any good at them.In today's grind culture, hobbies become side hustles. Work creeps into leisure time. Perfectionism reigns. We look up to experts, and we look down on amateurs. And when someone asks us what we like to do, we realize we have absolutely no idea.But amateur just means "one who loves." So what if being a total amateur is actually a good thing? What if we've been so focused on achieving that we have forgotten how to be interesting?In her new book, Karen Walrond strikes out to discover the things she loves that demand no excellence--just desire. As she cultivates practices and rituals, without any expectation of success or accolades, she shows us how to do the same. And she helps us learn Seven Attributes of Intentional curiosity, mindfulness, self-compassion, play, zone-stretching, connection, and awe.Follow Walrond as she dabbles in throwing pottery, swimming laps, playing piano, learning to surf, and photographing the Milky Way ( it doesn't all go well). Listen in on her conversations with other amateurs--and experts too--about how intentional amateurism enhances mental and social health. And to get you started on your own intentional amateurism practice, she also serves up a list of more than two hundred ideas for things to dabble in--ways to discover your own path to being a total amateur.Walrond reminds us that it's in the living that we create a life, so failure isn't a concern; in fact, it's kind of the point. If we get better at a hobby or a craft, that's simply a byproduct, never the goal. Transcendence What joy might we find if we simply started doing the things we love?

If you're considering a career change, are in the middle of a personal life transition— or are simply looking for a way to add some happy moments to your life—this creative, fun-filled guided journal will help you navigate and discover your own personal method of curating a meaningful life. Path Finder, based on Karen Walrond’s popular on-line class, is all about encouraging you along your own path of self-discovery. Every chapter provides journaling prompts, exercises, food for thought and meditations, to help you to see and develop and create your own path forward toward a more fulfilling life. The exercises will invite you to tap into your inner creative, and invite you to write, journal, doodle and even photograph your thoughts, so you’ll gain more insight into how your spirit ticks.Filled with the inspirational ideas and images Karen became known for on her blog Chookooloonks and in her book The Beauty of Different, Path Finder will propel you on a journey of self-discovery, with the goal of discovering your own vision and self-purpose. Step-by-step, you'll discover how to inject some real happiness into your life.

There comes a point in life where you begin to question whether it's time to slow down. Whether you're as attractive as you once were. Or as athletic. Or you begin to wonder what life's supposed to be all about, anyway. This point in life -- and when it occurs varies from person to person -- this is when you Make Light .Make Light is a chronicle of stories and imagery of people who make it their mission to thrive out loud -- who pursue passions and new businesses and breathtaking adventures. Who hone their minds, bodies, and spirits in ways that allow them to change their worlds. As you read their stories in these pages, you'll be inspired by a new definition of what it means to "thrive" -- and discover the power of doing so lies only in our desire to Make Light .Make Light is a visual work designed to connect you with your own power to change your world -- by listening to your own inner voice, identifying the gifts and passions that you have that were meant to be used to create light in your world, and also using them create light in the lives of others. We were all designed to make light; this book is a beautiful reminder that it is entirely within your power to make it happen.