A list of chapters in the book I AM WRITING
Part manifestation, part dream, part reality
It is Saturday 21st December, and my flat is completely quiet. I was playing my December 2024 ‘the slowdown’ playlist, but for the last 30 minutes, I needed complete silence to finish a very important task – the first full chapter of my ‘Duality’ book.
I am now typing out this post at my breakfast bar, overlooking the plantain I am frying for a small family dinner at mine this evening – it is the festive season after all. More importantly, you know that plantains *favourite* thing to do is burn when you aren’t looking. I feel both proud and in awe of the fact that I am even talking about a chapter of my book. Even more in awe that I am talking about it on here.
Let’s get into some context. This chapter was requested by a wonderful, energetic, kindred spirit editor I worked closely with last year to illustrate her client’s beautiful book on radical self-care. She asked me one day: ‘have you ever thought about writing a book?’. I have wanted to write a book for nearly 15 years – ever since a lecturer from my first year research methods in psychology class gave us his own book as a compulsory purchase on our reading list (remember when we had to buy textbooks for our degrees?). Thoroughly impressed, I decided I also wanted to write a book that students had to reference in their degrees, and the desire has just grown and grown. The fact I am a lecturer & academic now, and only realised this was my true vocation in 2024 is a whole other story. Not this story.
So anyway, back to this chapter. It is part of a book I am writing that explores our ‘duality’. The line & honey family will know that I have been playing with this idea of duality for a year, which culminated in the launch of our sold out duality journal.
I have been journalling about duality since May 2023, and often refer back to each journal entry to follow my understanding of duality at a time when I was in crisis - defining it for myself and others, realising this is a concept I want to share more about, creating the journal, then considering what would be in a book. I journal both digitally and in my physical duality journal, so it was easy to review when talking to this wonderful editor, and subsequently, putting a book proposal and suggested chapter list together. I aptly titled it ‘Everything I know about duality’:
Then, recently she asked for a full chapter, which I thought would take me two weeks as I have SO much content already written throughout the journal, but it has taken closer to two months. I couldn’t seem to clear my head enough to collate my thoughts, so ended up booking myself a writers retreat in a luxury country estate hotel, where I realised that to accurately write a chapter, I needed to be clear on the content of all the chapters within the book. What they cover, how they connect, how they are structured, the journal questions I ask, the theories I reference – I needed to understand how it flowed. I wrote the introduction with ease, then started the chapter I felt was most appropriate to start: Chapter 3: Duality as Survival. It took a while as I refer to (& ultimately simplify) the very complex approach to wellbeing that is salutogenesis, and explain how it connects to duality when we are fighting for our life!
So for today’s list of things, I have decided to share the full chapter list of this book that I am planning to write and finish in 2025 (ijn) because I don’t want to write it alone. I want to talk to as many people that resonate with having ‘duality’ as possible, and want as much insight as I can possibly get. Feeling really inspired by Sharmadean Reids fab community approach to writing her ‘New Methods’ book last year where she shared each chapter in a weekly The Stack World zoom call, I want to discuss each chapter with others as I write it.
If you have the capacity to read my chapter and tell me what you think, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. It isn’t real until someone reads it.
A list of chapters from my book on Duality:
Please share comments & responses and let me know if you want to read Chapter 3 – happy to send and even happier to hear feedback.
