Buffy update: finished Season 4, whoohooo!! That Adam storyline was getting so irritating, it was kinda cool to see the end of him/it (*and* The Initiative) in the next-to-last episode. Whoohoooo! Now am taking a slight break before attacking Season 5 in full force.
Reading update: I was in kind of a "self-help / management-help" type mood set off by reading about that Ferrari-less Monk, so before the new DVD player came along I had gone through another three related books:
- The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
compared to the Farrari-less Monk, definitely a better read. But in the overall scheme of things, it's still a shallow trying-to-be-more-than-it-can-ever-be type of wanna-be-thought-provoking-but-failing-miserably tale.
The Identity Code - Larry Ackerman
Oh my what a piece of crap. Again somone who's convinced he's "discovered" these "natural" "laws" this time concerning identity... but bottom line, he's not saying anything new. Start here or with any other book - just don't swallow everything hook line & sinker...
Which brings us to
The Last Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need - Paul Pearsall
The message in this book is very similar to my own stand about all those self-help / management type books out there ever since I got exposed to them in the course of my work. All these people who sell their angle as the only real true correct angle. While I'd easily see the similarity of messages, see that they are essentially saying the same thing, but in different ways. So in the end it's up to us to pick and choose what seems right to/for us. Dr Pearsall takes it one step further by saying that a lot of the unhappiness in the world today is caused by this self-help movement that convinces everyone that something is wrong with them: his angle is most of us are doing just fine, we just need to be more "mindful" as we go through life. I think it's similar to the "self-aware" angle I use.
I'd recommend Pearsall's book out of the three above.
Oh, and one good thing out of it: got a pointer towards a proper scientific investigation into reincarnation (you know, as opposed to unsubstantiated tales or whatnot) - sounded interesting, have already ordered it from the library. It's "Old Souls: The Scientific Evidence For Past Lives " by Thomas Shroder. And perhaps that will naturally lead me to Mary Roach's "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife"?
By this time, in a fortnight, will be in a plane headed back to Malaysia. Ugh.
Alot of the unhappiness in the world comes from people's ridiculous expectations; folks used to just expect to eat most days, and to have a shelter, and maybe produce some kids before they died... but now, everyone wants perfect health, endless silly gadgets, lots of $, a romantic partner who's their clone, and all sorts of other impossible things.
ReplyDelete(doesn't read self-help books)
Thanks for the kind words. The situation really sucks but we are getting through it.
ReplyDeleteI have the D&C tomorrow so that will help as then we will be able to start the healing process. It's like being in limbo now and it will be good to get this long long week over.
love
Moxie
xxx