"Breathe. Breathe deep and pure and smooth. Concentrate on it. Breathing is the pace you set your life at. It’s the rhythm of the song of you. It’s how to get back to the center of things. The center of yourself. When the world wants to take you in every other direction. It was the first thing you learned to do. The most essential and simple thing you do. To be aware of breath is to remember you are alive."

This is a companion to Reasons to Stay Alive and The Humans. Read all 3.

Matt Haig, in Notes on a Nervous Planet, once again fearlessly gives us essays, lists, memories, advice, imaginary interviews, wishes, fears, thoughts, poetry, ideas, as well as notes, in an honest, straightforward way.

He makes me think -- about love, about peace, about slowing down -- to just be. He reminds me to breathe. He reminds me that I am human, with all the faults that word conveys, and that I am enough. What a gift!