Janet Keating - Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
"I highly recommend this guide to burn-out prevention which provides practical advice regarding its causes and its reversal from those who know it best.
Between the covers of this excellent retrospective, you'll read about veteran organizers who arrive at Windcall generally worn out from their hectic, fast-paced, demanding and stressful lives, arriving at a place that offers solitude, community, serenity, beauty and renewal. Susan's book presents stories, quotes, experiences, profiles, and many lessons learned from numerous seasoned organizers - lessons from which we can all learn.
A central theme of the Windcall residency program and Susan's book is self-care - something that many of us forgo, subjugating our own needs to others' demands. While that might seem right and altruistic, how in the world can we preach "sustainable environment" if we don't first take the right steps to sustain ourselves? Doesn't all our work first begin with individual awareness and responsibility?"
Link to complete Book Review from the OVEC Newsletter
Madeline Janis, Executive Director - Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
"This wonderful, nurturing book brings back a flood of memories for those of us who found life-affirming sustenance in the mountains of Montana. Readers: prepare yourselves to be enveloped with Susan's personal warmth and essential humanity."
La Jicarita News
"Windcall residents come from all over the country and are involved in incredibly diverse issues: homelessness; AIDS education and care; hate crimes; protecting small farms; hazardous waste disposal; low-cost housing; domestic abuse; and health care."
Link to full review
Amazon.com reader
"While I'm not in the non-profit world, I found this book to be incredibly inspiring. This book is about community, supporting the people on the front lines, and the difference one or two people can make. The writing is poetic - so much so that I felt transported. I wish I knew of a way to get this book into a wider variety of bookstore subject areas as many more people would benefit from this than just folks in the non-profit world."
Link to full review
Amazon.com reader
"What a lovely story - full of simple truths that any one of us can benefit from. It's a pretty fast read (less than 200 pgs), full of heartfelt, revealing portraits of real people and their experiences of renewal. The author and the people profiled provide us with a solution to the always-present problem of burnout - specifically for those who work in the fields of social and environmental justice. I think the story is applicable for anyone who may have 'lost themselves' in their work and now suffers from the various symptoms that so easily creep in.
It's a beautifully written, personal reflection by one of the co-founders of an inventive program they call Windcall. I readily recommend this book to anyone who has a spouse, friend, sibling or coworker that could use an optimistic reminder that we are not simply our work. And that the vital life force and creativity that often gets snatched away if one's identity becomes too locked and identified only with work-related responsibilities can indeed be restored and renewed."
Link to full review
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