We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere

by Gillian Anderson, Jennifer Nadel

Overview

Urgent and provocative, We: A Manifesto for Women Everwhere is “part self-help, part social theory, centered in the idea that instead of having it ‘all,’ women can live happier, better lives by becoming more free” (Glamour), from longtime friends Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel.

We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere is an uplifting, timely, and practical manual for creating change in women’s lives, with nine universal principles that help you confront life’s inevitable emotional and spiritual challenges. It’s about transitioning from a me-first culture and imagining what a we-based world might look like.

In We, Anderson and Nadel ask why so many women are locked in cycles of depression, addiction, self-criticism, and even self-harm. How much more effective and powerful would we all be if we replaced our current patterns of competition, criticism, and comparison with collaboration, cooperation, and compassion?

Putting these values at the center of our lives allows each of us to be happier and more empowered, and to replace harmful habits with a more positive, peaceful, and rewarding way of being. We is a rallying cry for “every woman, everywhere on the planet. Open to any page. And there you will find a truth that can set you free” (Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501126284
Publisher:	Atria Books
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	407,363
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Gillian Anderson is an award-winning film, television, and theater actor and producer, writer, and activist. She currently lives in London with her daughter and two sons.

Jennifer Nadel is an award-winning broadcast journalist, qualified attorney, writer, and activist. American-born, she lives in London with her three sons.

Read an Excerpt

AN INVITATION TO YOU

‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’

Mary Oliver

At some point in our lives, most of us feel the gentle calling of our soul. Sometimes it’s so quiet we can barely hear it – a soft tapping. No louder than a leaf falling from a tree.

We may imagine we didn’t hear it. Or perhaps it is louder and takes the form of a persistent ache, a nagging sense that there is something missing. ‘Is this it?’ we wonder when we wake in the dead of night or find ourselves caught in the treadmill of our daily grind.

It may be a hint of loneliness that endures even in the company of friends. Or a sense of injustice and a desire to change things that feels urgent and necessary, but also hopeless before it even begins.

Perhaps our heart tells us there is a better way of living, that we need to stop ignoring what really matters – the suffering of others and our planet’s future – but our head insists we’re naïve and tells us to knuckle down and get on with our lives as they are.

For others the call may take the form of a crisis – a break-up or breakdown, a betrayal or loss. Or perhaps it’s addiction, depression, or another serious illness.

However it comes, it is an invitation to take a journey. You may resist. Many of us have resisted it for years, even decades. Ultimately it’s your choice. But it will wait for you patiently, tapping daily or every so often in small and big ways to remind you that, in truth, you can’t avoid it if you truly want to live a meaningful life.

If you’ve heard that call, this book is for you. It’s for women who want happiness and meaning. It will guide you towards the path to inner peace and provide the power to help transform the world in which we all live.
 
THE JOURNEY

WE is a journey based on a set of nine principles that have been taught by sages and saints throughout the ages and which have the power to transform your life and the world around you.

It isn’t a lifestyle choice to be bolted onto our normal me-centred way of living; it’s a path of radical transformation that puts compassion for the world at its core.

Use this book both as a guide and a source of inspiration. If you’re hurting, it will help you heal. If you’re lost, it will guide you home. If you’re searching for a purpose, it will gently lead you towards fulfilment.

We arrive in this world without instruction manuals and we grow up without an emotional toolkit. So it’s easy to lose our way.

As we go through life we amass emotional scar tissue from the knocks that we inevitably take. We become like electrical circuit boards that have got so clogged up by the silt of life that we can no longer connect with ourselves and our core beliefs, let alone with the world beyond.

All of us start out in life with a strong internal value system – a sense of what’s right and wrong and what’s fair and what’s unjust. But then life intervenes. In the cold light of reality our ideals can quickly seem naïve, unrealistic and untenable. However strong and heartfelt our intentions, it’s hard to give effect to our beliefs when we’re struggling, stressed or in emotional pain.

Before long we’ve abandoned those values in favour of the rules we’re taught by the world. Succeed, compete and accumulate. Deep down we feel conflicted, but at the end of the day we each have to get by, don’t we?

A gulf emerges between the values we choose for our personal lives and those we live by in the world at large. In our homes and families we believe in sharing and making sure everyone’s OK. But once we step outside our front door the rules change. The common good is replaced with the quest for personal success. Within seconds we dissolves into me and we’re elbowing each other out of the way in the race to get to the finishing line. Only, of course, there isn’t one – just a horizon that moves further away the closer we get.

The Nine Principles in this book heal our wounds and return us to our centre. As you learn to apply them to your life one by one, you will be taken on a journey from me to WE. Loneliness will evaporate. You will discover a sense of purpose and you will be freed – freed to live a life that is authentic, happy and meaningful.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

The Journey xiii

Why Now? xv

How WE Works xvii

Why We Wrote WE xix

WE's Vision xxiii

Part 1 The Essentials 1

Essential Practice 1 Gratitude: A Mind-Altering Substance 5

Essential Practice 2 Gentleness: Changing the Messages We Give Ourselves 13

Essential Practice 3 Responsibility: Taking Care of Ourselves 21

Essential Practice 4 Meditation: Creating a Safe Space and Making Way for the Sacred 39

Part 2 The 9 Principles 49

Principle 1 Honesty: Getting Real 55

Principle 2 Acceptance: Making Friends with What Is 83

Principle 3 Courage: Ending the Victim Trap 109

Principle 4 Trust: Living Without Fear 135

Principle 5 Humility: Unmasking Our Ego 157

Principle 6 Peace: Ending the Conflict Within 181

Principle 7 Love: Transforming Relationships 207

Principle 8 Joy: Living Fully 243

Principle 9 Kindness: Love in Action 267

Part 3 The Manifesto 293

A World in Need of Love 297

Appendixes 309

Resources 313

Further Reading 333

Endnotes 339

Index 351

Editorial Reviews

From longtime friends Jennifer Nadel and Gillian Anderson (yes, Dana Scully) comes a book that's part self-help, part social theory, centered in the idea that instead of having it "all," women can live happier, better lives by becoming more free. We all have the power to create change, one woman at a time.

Glamour

A brilliant look at being a woman in the 21st century: unmasking limitations, relinquishing the desire to compare and compete, stating the importance of vulnerability and acceptance, the need for more joy in life, and rewriting your own story.

Ms. Magazine

Warm and easy to use as a reference...Readers will find both specific and more holistic advice, essential practices, affirmations, reflections, aphorisms, and mantras. The overall effect is a journey by small steps, which could be inspiring material for discussion groups.

Booklist

"Inspiring and provocative, it challenges the annoying concept of women “having it all,” and instead, using the authors' personal experiences and career trajectories, focuses on maximizing happiness and fulfillment. It’s actionable and girl power-y—just the kind of book we need right now."

PureWow

Anderson and Nadel present nine principles for a life focused more on you, and less on keeping up with those (metaphorical) Joneses.

Coastal Living

"We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere is a bracing, honest, uplifting manual for changing the world by owning your gifts, telling the truth, expressing gratitude, and living with joy. It’s for every woman, everywhere on the planet. Open to any page. And there you will find a truth that can set you free. We’re all in this together. And We is the GPS for the journey."

Christiane Northrup

We, which is written in a conversational, almost confiding tone—no pop-psychology babble here—is a fresh, smart look at how women can cut through the bull—— cluttering their lives and focus on the things that are truly important.

Entertainment Weekly

Warm and easy to use as a reference...Readers will find both specific and more holistic advice, essential practices, affirmations, reflections, aphorisms, and mantras. The overall effect is a journey by small steps, which could be inspiring material for discussion groups.

Booklist

01/23/2017
Actor Anderson and journalist Nadel’s feminist manifesto is written as a practical guide for women, using many personal insights and struggles as the beginning point for what they hope will be a miraculous journey of individual and collective healing. The book is divided into two main sections, the first highlighting four “essential practices,” or mental adjustments (such as gratitude) that are integral to the success of the implementation of the subsequent nine principles that compose the other main section. These principles take the form of abstractions such as peace, joy, and love, but the book takes these notions out of the realm of the abstract and makes the reader work for them. Each principle chapter includes quotes, anecdotes, and exercises that require real effort; these lend the book more heft and spare it from being just another recitation of self-help platitudes. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2017
Acclaimed actress Anderson (The EarthEnd Saga) and journalist Nadel (Pretty Thing) provide a step-by-step strategy for women on how to achieve one's potential and find happiness. Drawing from the abundance of popular self-help techniques, such as meditation and visualization, a way for women to overcome negative aspects of life is detailed. Interspersed throughout each chapter are the authors' personal reflections on a particular practice or issue. For example, Anderson describes how meditation helped with her struggle of finding inner value in the entertainment industry, which she feels places too much worth on outward appearance. This work culminates in nine principles by which to adhere, such as humility and kindness, as "…a path of love—for ourselves and for the world." By focusing on the female experience and combining many well-known personal growth procedures, this guide book offers a somewhat fresh perspective. VERDICT Fans of Anderson and Nadel will be drawn to their accounts of striving toward self-actualization. However, others may want to pass on this compendium of a much-examined topic.—Mary Jennings, Camano Island Lib., WA

Library Journal

2016-12-14
A series of practical steps for women to self-improve and help each other.In this collaboration, actress Anderson (co-author: The Sound of Seas: The EarthEnd Saga #3, 2016, etc.) and journalist Nadel (Pretty Thing, 2015, etc.) combine elements of self-help techniques, behavior therapy, meditation, and friendly conversations with a best friend or therapist. "WE is a journey based on a set of nine principles that have been taught by sages and saints throughout the ages and which have the power to transform your life and the world around you," write the authors. "It isn't a lifestyle choice to be bolted onto ego-driven living; it's a path of radical transformation that puts compassion for the world at its core." The authors claim that by following the numerous exercises included under each guiding principle—honesty, acceptance, courage, trust, humility, peace, love, joy, and kindness—women will notice a shift in their attitudes toward others and how others treat them. The assignments, which can be accomplished in small increments, require the use of a journal or notebook. Since they build on one another, readers should start at the beginning rather than jump to a particular principle. Personal comments by both authors help readers understand how the nine beliefs have affected their lives, and they include a useful summary of each of the values as well as relevant affirmations from a variety of historical figures, including Helen Keller, Anne Frank, and Rosa Parks. Though the authors don't provide much new or groundbreaking information, the way they have grouped it together, distilled the essence of each practice, and provided a road map of tasks will enable readers to actually set a plan in motion. "You have nothing to lose but your unhappiness," they write, "and the world has everything to gain." Sunny, easy-to-follow self-help principles.

Kirkus Reviews