I think about you all the time and how much you’d love this podcast I’m listening to, this book I’m reading, this sunny day.

So as we wrap this season of the Bearing Fruit newsletter and slow down for the summer, I’m sending you this compilation of thoughtful food for your heart and soul.

I actually do intend to keep this light but my first recommendation is this podcast episode from The Money with Katie Show. Money is so emotional. Or rather, our associations with money are emotional and personal and touchy AF.

Entrepreneurs who care can struggle to be ok with making money and charging what their worth. If that’s you, it’s healthy to examine where that’s coming from and this episode will help.

This episode of the We Can Do Hard Things podcast reminded me of this article I wrote about burn out. So, some of the root causes they discuss may be topics you’ve heard before but they’ve dig into actual, real, tangible solutions.

Meditation alone sure won’t fix the world but knowing how to regulate your emotions by getting in touch with your own inner calm will seriously improve your day-to-day. There’s no one better at guiding you through that journey than Tara Brach.

Though you definitely can’t feel great all day every day, I’m a big fan of engineering my time to set me up for the most success. And I’m a data nerd. I think you are, too. So you’ll dig this episode of The Happiness Lab, which has do-able, easily implementable, and somewhat surprising strategies backed by research.

This episode of Hidden Brain features someone who researches successful entrepreneurs. When you work backwards from the success cases to see what they have in common, it’s illuminating. And it’s contrary to what we’ve often been told. And it aligns with how I’ve birthed my business too.

Jenny Odell’s book, How to Do Nothing, will change your life if you let it. It’s a beautiful exploration of what makes life worth living. We need this more so now that bots and AI are making it difficult to know what’s real anymore. Though many others have written about the attention economy is the style of a logical argument, Jenny Odell is an artist in real life so this prose is almost poetic.

I’ve gifted this book to several friends, it’s that good.

Get it on Amazon or Bookshop.

Lastly (for now), I hope your summer has moments where you aren’t trying to learn a new skill or fix your business. I hope you have plenty of time to just dance with some joy in your heart. To that end, here’s what’s making me get up, shake my tail, and sing real loud. My Summer Play List.

Have fun. Go play.