Conscious Service | Elizabeth Bishop | Book Review
Written by: Khyati Gautam
Published: 20th June 2022
- Publisher: Hazelden Publishing (19 April 2022)
- Language: English
- Pages: 330
Service providers are found in abundance around us and we see them as full of compassion and love. And it is true. The ones who directly or indirectly are in the vocation of serving others usually put their misery aside and continue to perform their duties.
However, it is important to understand that one could experience occupational hazards such as trauma and burnout or simply have their own issues. One must not shoo away their problem because pouring from an empty cup does no good to anyone.
We got to serve each other as a unified human collective. But, you cannot serve others unless you serve yourself.
Conscious Service by Elizabeth Bishop is a guide to developing a holistic understanding of what conscious service truly means and how one can achieve it. It is built upon the idea of nurturing oneself to serve others. The book makes use of images, anecdotes, and storytelling to help us reimagine how we think about, train for, and embody service.
And the book is meant for all of us irrespective of the fact that we are connected to any human service-based profession. Because we all deserve the love of self and this book makes a strong point for the same.
Some of my takeaways from this 10-chapter book include:
- Become aware of your purpose. Have clarity on the same.
- Ensure you have a personal philosophy announcing your bigger purpose.
- Whatever you do, show up fully. Show up fully for yourself too. Make time for a self-care routine.
- Build emotional intelligence and think in multiple ways (cognitive/ metacognitive/ conscious)
- Embrace responsibility towards others and self.
- Set the right intention for things, fully accept yourself and then see the magic flow.
And remember, the tiniest acts of kindness can move us in love.
This book of 10 invitations could be an amazing pick for anyone interested in developing a deeper sense of self-worth and love.
Written with compassion and grace, Conscious Service aims to help us in elevating our inner self so that we could fully achieve our purpose in this life.