As some of you know, a couple of months ago the A Lust for Life crew ran a fairly whopper campaign called #SoundEffect in partnership with Pieta House. As part of that campaign we created a beauty of a little book called The Little Book of Sound. It’s a pocket guide designed to share ideas on how ‘being sound’ to ourselves and to others can help our minds and our society. It also has a little on the science that supports why it’s so important.
We’re delighted and excited to share that our first venture into book-writing has now been officially published by the brilliant crew at Gill and will be on sale in bookshops all over Ireland from Wednesday November 22nd (just in time for Christmas, we think it’s a pretty cool stocking filler!). It’s also available to buy through our website here right now.
This is mega exciting news for us as it means we get to share with more of you what we believe is powerful information to help us all take better care of our minds and each other. As an added bonus all funds raised from the sale of our book are channelled back into our movement which we are also delighted to say recently received charity status.
“We can be relentlessly hard on ourselves at times. Throw on top of that the amount of toxic rhetoric, behaviours and actions we are witnessing throughout the world on a daily basis and life can start to feel overwhelming. The more compassion we can have for ourselves, the more empathy we can show to others and now more than ever we could really benefit by being a bit sounder to ourselves and to those around us. Our hope is that The Little Book of Sound will give people a few practical little tips on how to do that, especially at this time of year which can be tough for many” says Niall ‘Bressie’ Breslin, Co-Founder and Director of A Lust for Life
The origins of The Little Book of Sound are in August 2017’s phenomenally successful #SoundEffect campaign which simply asked the nation to share acts of soundness, however small or profound. The campaign was based on a core belief that people are fundamentally sound, a message that often gets lost in modern society. The vision was to create a wave of positivity using #SoundEffect as a fulcrum for the human stories, actions and gestures that amplify the collective soundness of our nation. It also began a journey of education – helping people to understand why being sound matters.
The Little Book of Sound takes it one step further, encouraging people to be sound to themselves as well as others. It includes a little bit of the science supporting how being sound to others and to ourselves has a huge positive impact on our mind, bodies and the world around us.
“Being sound pays off. But we often forget the importance of being sound to others and can be particularly hard on ourselves. Treat yourself to The Little Book of Sound and learn a bit more about the science of sound” says Paula McLoughlin, Chair and Acting CEO of A Lust for Life
For those of you who may not know what being sound means…
To be sound: Irish slang. To be sound is a state of existence. It usually refers to someone who willingly does a favour, asked or not, although usually unexpected – Like when you ask for one chocolate biscuit and someone gives you two. Sound! It can be something really small or a grand gesture of soundness. Also “sound” can be used as an adjective to describe a genuine, nice person. Someone who is decent, dead-on, cool, really kind, brilliant. “She’s sound” (a good person). “That was sound of him.” (He did something good/kind).
“Small acts of kindness or self-compassion positively affect our physical and mental health dramatically. So as your next act of soundness maybe you’ll think about going out and picking up a copy of the book for you and your mates” says Jack Reynor, Ambassador for A Lust for Life.
The Little Book of Sound which was co-written by Niall ‘Bressie’ Breslin, Dr. Malie Coyne and Susan Quirke and designed by the wonderful Natalie Keville is available from Wednesday November 22nd in all good bookshops or here right now via alustforlife.com/shop/The-Little-Book-of-Sound-p95950663
Sample from The Little Book of Sound:
If we were to believe everything we read, see and hear in the media we would be forgiven for thinking we are all a shower of horrible feckers – but the reality is this is simply not true. It’s fake news. Most people are sound – and being sound pays off.
But in order to be sound to others we must recognize the need to be sound ourselves. For whatever reason, sometimes many of us can be incredibly hard on ourselves. We can expect so much, trying to live up to what others want us to be or what we believe we should be. If you stop and think about this for even a second, it is easy to observe how this pressure can create an unsettled mind.
So, what is the alternative? How about practicing self-compassion? This doesn’t mean you have to walk around every five minutes high-fiving yourself or attempt to shift a mirror every time you pass one – but the more compassion we can show for ourselves the more empathy we can show to others.
And guess what? Studies in psychology and neuroscience are confirming that there’s real science to support how being sound to others and to ourselves has a huge positive impact on our mind and bodies.
As a closing note we wanted to share a few lines from the personal letters of support we received from President Michael D. Higgins and An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar about our #SoundEffect campaign. Their words meant a lot to us, so we wanted to share them again in case you folks didn’t hear at the time…..
“As President of Ireland, I want to welcome the #SoundEffect campaign and wish it every success. The campaign is so worthy of support and can be a compelling reminder of the power of personal action and genuine solidarity. It highlights not only the inspiring actions of people in Ireland, but also the infinite possibilities that present themselves when we work together and when people of all backgrounds and circumstances join forces, choosing to support each other’’- Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland
“As Taoiseach I would like to support the #SoundEffect campaign and wish it every success.
We need to be reminded, in that wonderful Irish idiom, of all the times people have been sound to us, and the times we have been sound to others. #SoundEffect encourages us to support mental wellbeing and combat negativity with something positive and affirming”. –Leo Varadkar, An Taoiseach
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We rely on the generosity of the public to fund our work and so far together we have achieved great things! Please do continue to support us so we can provide future generations in Ireland with the resources to recognise and talk about their emotions, and equip them to navigate the ever-changing world around them as they grow
