THE PEACE GUIDEBOOK

In this self-help book, two experts on personal development highlight ways to practice peace daily.

“Peace is not something we wait for,” life coaches Hamilton-Guarino and Eastman point out in the book’s introduction, adding that it is instead “something we practice—every day, in every interaction, in every breath.” The authors challenge popular misconceptions of peace that relegate it to an abstract ideal, reduce it to passive inaction, or defer its value onto others, and they argue that it begins inside oneself and in one’s interactions with family members, colleagues, and communities. Central to the book’s convincing premise is that peace starts with compassion (“When you commit to practicing compassion,” they write, “you promote peace”), and that actively choosing compassion not only helps bring inner peace, but is also a contribution to global peace movements. As a guidebook, the volume provides pragmatic advice, often in bulleted lists, on how to embrace its central concept, while emphasizing that it requires constant vigilance and patience. A wealth of practical ancillaries includes journaling prompts (included on lined paper throughout the book), real-world exercises to help break an “autopilot cycle” in stressful situations, and prompts for group discussions. There are memoiristic vignettes from the authors’ own lives, as well as inspirational stories contributed by people they’ve encountered as life coaches, licensed therapists, and motivational speakers. Hamilton-Guarino, a bestselling author of nearly a dozen works, joins Eastman, whose academic background is in clinical psychology, for this book; the pair, who previously worked together on Percolate: Let Your Best Self Filter Through (2014), are particularly adept at blending a welcoming, personable writing style with a solid understanding of best practices in contemporary psychology and peace theory that’s backed by scholarly references. Although the authors’ overall goal of a more peaceful world is admirable, they’re also careful to emphasize that the book “doesn’t ask for perfection.” Instead, it effectively encourages readers to contribute to this goal—one small change and action at a time.

A practical and engagingly written guidebook to embodying peace in one’s daily life.