You Are What You Read

It is nice when you come across a book that provides a clear title for a blog post about it. I recently read You Are What You Read: A Practical Guide to Reading Well by Robert DiYanni. He is a Humanities Professor at NYU and his career primarily has been in college teaching. When I picked up the book I immediately thought of the phrase, “You are what you eat”. It makes sense then since reading is food for the mind we are what we read. In the forward of the book he states, “ You Are What You Read celebrates reading’s value for learning and for living. It presents ways to enrich your reading practices and enhance your reading pleasure.”. In my emphasis on being a Bookhead this is what I believe about a passion for reading. Reading adds much to our lived experiences. I will just touch on a few points that stood out to me from the book. One of my favorite concepts comes out of chapter one in which he emphasizes the importance of questions in our mind while we read. As I have mentioned in the past on critical thinking having a questioning mind is important. Our questions can help us in finding the meaning of the text and also understand the context of the story or information in the best way possible. On page 15 DiYanni presents good insights on questions, “At their best, our questions about texts prompt us to think about them more thoroughly and expansively. Our questions encourage analysis and appreciation, and they invite us to explore the ways texts stimulates our feelings and thoughts about them.” So with a questioning mind we gain more personal in-depth insights into whatever we are reading. This works whether it is fiction material or non-fiction works. He also brings out the point that we each bring to the reading experience our own perceptions and personal experiences as we interact with whatever we are reading. Think of it that is how in a book club the whole group can read the same chapter of a book but there are differing ideas as each person’s perceptions tap into a different aspect of what the author is writing about. That is amazing if you think about it. DiYanni discusses in the book some stories in the Bible and this idea I see so much in stories from the Bible. Granted there is often a common truth in the Biblical story but each reader often applies it in various ways to their lived experiences. This can be seen in any work of writing. He then goes through different types of fiction, non-fiction and poetry to show how to interact with various genres of writing. One other point that stood out to me is his analogy of reading to sports in life. “Those who experience the pleasure and powers of reading early carry them into later live, as athletes carry to adulthood skills developed playing sports in their youth. Reading like certain sports…. Can be learned early and continued throughout one’s lifetime. An ability to read perceptively identifies a person as educated, and likely interesting. An ability to read with understanding and enjoyment provides a source of lifelong pleasure.” (page 157). For a Bookhead such as myself, as I call lovers of books, his reading concepts like these show great benefits to reading. There are many other ideas to help us enjoy and be better readers so that is why I encourage picking up a copy of DiYanni’s book and spend time with it. Near the end he also has short descriptors of 9 reading practices: Read – Actively, deliberatively, predicatively, retrospectively, interpretively, evaluatively, purposefully, habitually, pleasurably. At the end of the book he in his appendixes includes a discussion on print and ebooks. Also he looks at other recommended books on reading. Those added sections of the books are well worth reading the book just for that information. Reflection: What are your personal thoughts on the idea “You Are What You Read”?

Adventure at Your Library

Since COVID I haven’t emphasized like I did in the past the Library Summer reading programs that go on across the country. A couple of weeks ago I went to my local library here in New Braunfels to renew my library card. It was nice to see a full parking lot. I went in to renew the card and picked up a book to read. I only took one as being a Bookhead I already have a large stack of books to read at home. I then went over to the information table and saw information on the Summer Reading program. This as always brings back to me memories of my childhood in Barberton, Ohio and my mom taking me to the public library for the Summer reading program. I believe that started for me when I was in second grade. Reading captured my attention as being in a poor single parent home I could read about stories from all over the world. The passion for reading helped me academically in school. I have many good memories of the library reading programs and it was a highlight of my Summers. I picked up a free bookmark off the table and it had a theme for the reading program on it. The theme for this year is, “Adventure Begins at Your Library”. This is a wonderful theme. Adventure should be connected to libraries and reading. Culture at large looks at reading and libraries as boring so the theme is an important reframing. With libraries in today’s world they are much more than books, which of course as a Bookhead that is the most important part to me. Yet as I looked at the library calendar they have presentations for adults on self help topics such as creativity, coloring and meal prepping. They have activities for children and teens as well. Then when considering reading, that should be considered an adventure as well. Reading expands the mind in so many ways. With fiction the mind is transported into the story built by another person’s creative mind but the reader gets to also being absorbed into the creativity of the story. With non-fiction the adventure is opening up to new ideas and new information on topics for example I love topics such as psychology and spirituality. Each non-fiction reader has their favorite topics and it excites them to grow in new ways. So I am glad they chose the theme of adventure for the reading program. I am a little behind this year as the librarian said they would be winding down the program soon but he said there was a lot of involvement from all the ages at the library here in New Braunfels. Next year I will be more together and go back to announcing the Summer reading program at the beginning of the Summer. Reflection: How is reading an adventure in your life?

The Importance of Keeping Our Free Thought Free

Since we are celebrating the 4th of July this week I thought I would share thoughts on a book that relates to the freedoms we enjoy in the USA. At least for right now we do; but freedom is shaky as there are forces that would like to see our country destroyed to prepare for a dystopian WEF world. I was delighted to purchase a book entitled You Can’t Say That!: The demise of free thought in Australia. It was interesting to hear of the book as I had followed the author, Melinda Richards, on Social Media back in 2020 as I wanted to follow some Australian accounts to see views of life there as our daughter was engaged to a young man in Autralia. We followed the news in Australia during Covid as their plans were to marry but the COVID shut down postponed the wedding for two years. During that time it was shocking to see a country seemingly crazier that ours here in the US. Of course we had Fauci who helped cause the whole Plandemic. Thankfully our daughter did get the chance to go and marry in 2022 once they opened up. Back to the book, in her introduction she is honest and open that the ideas in the book are her opinions which in a free country we should respect and appreciate. Sad to say our world, with the help of “Social Elites”, is creating a world where only the “Official opinions” are allowed. Differing opinions must be canceled even to the point of being thrown in prison like we have seen recently here in the USA of Steve Bannon being sent to prison. The Left crazies are now admitting the main purpose was to shut down his famous, “War Room” podcast. Melinda tackles a number of important issues in the book such as Identity Politics, The Myth of Equality, Re-birth of Colour-coded Society and COVID to name some of the main topics. With each chapter she provides substantiated facts the media often hide and important related stories to help the reader critically think about the issue. The sad reality though in our world is that many people are molded by brainwashed feelings so they cannot understand the facts. My favorite section was the COVID discussion as I remember following what going on here but also watching Australia as I was concerned where our daughter may be moving. In our house we knew early on the whole COVID situation had nefarious roots. During the time we chose to get our information from the doctors the Mainstream press and so called Experts castigated. We stayed away from the planned solution of the vaccine as by then the whole situation was more about control than healing and helping. Her chapter covers many of the insanities that we knew were driven by keeping the public like fearful sheep. Those in charge knew that fear works. At the time of her writing the book she admits there was not much research on the full results on the effects of the vaccine. We now know that the vaccine was more of a harm than a help. More and more reports are coming out of vaccine injuries in the form of heart issues, strokes, neurological issues and even increased death. My wife and I often discuss how Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab of WEF fame must be happy how their plan of depopulation has worked through the vaccine. At the end of the book she gives the readers some tips on what they can do to be change agents to fight back against the elites. And thankfully we see signs of more people waking up and understand the Elites don’t have their best intentions at hand. We have seen farmer revolts in Europe and more people in the USA here waking up. I do hope the same happens in Australia as it is a wonderful country and of course my daughter is living there so I hope Australians wake up instead of being woke. She provides 10 action steps at the end of the book. I won’t list them all as I would rather you buy a copy of her book. I will list a few of my favorites. Understand your beliefs and values and I would say stand up for them. Talk about the issues of the day as your opinion is just as important as anyone else’s. Do not comply is important as we need to live out and stand for our values. Her idea of Becoming informed is so important as well. For example with COVID there was information available but people just obeyed and did not research information for themselves and how many died needlessly due to fearful obedience. In that section I wish she would have listed some good resources to find information from as too many still go to the mainstream news for their information which is a daily brainwashing session. If you want to read a book to open your mind to move you beyond the dystopian nightmare we face in the world I recommend this book by Melanie Richards. Here in the USA I purchased the book on Amazon. Reflection: With the various issues in the world do you just accept the common narrative or look at other sources and critically think about the issue? Take some time and journal about your beliefs and values. Why do you believe what you believe?

Improving Your Intellectual Reading Life

Last week I shared some thoughts from the book, The Intellectual Life. This week I want to share thoughts on my favorite portion of the book where Sertillanges discusses reading. There is one point I disagreed with but other thoughts I fully agree. He begins the section on reading with, “Now reading is the universal means of learning, and it is the proximate or remote preparation for every kind of production.” (p.145). Reading is vital to our educational growth for life and our vocations. He adds that our learning is through connection and collaboration with other minds which reading connects us with great minds and great experiences. He then moves onto a point that first bristled me as he mentions “we need to read little”. Why mention that in a section on reading. He then clarifies that he is emphasizing balance in life. We need to set time for reading but also time for self reflection and do other activities in life. I fully agree with that. In his clarifying on “reading little” he reminds the reader that in the book he discusses a wide variety of topics so there needs to be a breadth of topics we read about. He proceeds to another thought I disagreed with: that we should not read passionately. I firmly disagreed with that as that is against my concept of being a Bookhead that there should be an internal passion for reading. Reading between the lines he was a monk and a professor in an age that emphasized intellectualism. Religion at that time had an aversion to the passions of humankind so the use of passion to reading may be contrary to him. Instead he emphasizes reading intelligently meaning concentrate and reflect on what is read. Critical thinking is important in my mind towards reading so I fully agree with his thoughts there; but I believe a passion is needed as well to be enthusiastic about reading. Being passionate about reading helps in building other readers. Both reading intelligently and building a passion for reading is important I feel for all readers. Sertillanges discussed four kinds of reading and expands on them in the text. “…I distinguish four kinds of reading. One reads for one’s formation and to become somebody, one reads in view of a particular task, one reads to acquire a habit of work and the love of what is good; one reads for relaxation. There is fundamental reading, accidental reading, stimulating reading or edifying reading, recreative reading.” (p.152). With my work as a therapist and in my former teaching work my focus was usually fundamental and edifying in the area of psychology and spirituality. An area of reading I need to work on is recreative reading as I do not read much fiction. He continues in this section on reading to give advice of being open to reading the great thinkers from the past and present to learn from others. His big emphasis too is to read what interests you. That goes back to his concept of reading little meaning focus in on your interests in reading but be open to building a breadth of knowledge. As I mentioned last week there is so much of interest in the book as a whole and also in this section on reading. One final quote from the book I will share is, “No one can teach us without our own effort. Reading puts truth before us; we have to make it ours. It is not the dealer in the market place that feeds our body. What I eat must turn into my substance. I alone can bring that about.” (p.168). This reminds me of the phrase you are what you eat. Similar in our mindsets and thoughts we are what we read. We need to take ownership of what we read and make choices to put the reading that impacts us into our daily lives. Reflection: What type of reading do you enjoy the most? How do you go about choosing the books you read?

Passion for the Intellectual Life

Thinking back to the cruise I took in May the main book I was working through at that time was a philosophical work, The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods by A.G. Sertillanges, O.P. He was a philosopher, author and priest in France born 1869 and died in 1948. This was one of his most popular books. Obviously I do not know French so this was a translation. The book was challenging as it dug deep into living life as a philosophical thinker. He used his studies of Thomas Aquinas for the moral underpinnings of his concepts in the book. Being a philosopher obviously he was sharing his passion for the intellectual life. He shared in it that people in different vocations have various passions yet his principles of critical thinking, spiritual character, time management and organization relate to all of us in whatever vocation we are called to so I think this book has benefits to us all. In the start of the first chapter he speaks to the deepening of the mind. “I say the deepening, in order to set aside the idea of a superficial tincture of knowledge”(p.3). He is revealing the importance of having discipline and immersed engagement in the intellectual life. Personal discipline is important and that weaves through many chapters of this work. Personal choice from the will is also important in his thinking as he says, “The most valuable thing of all is will, a deep rooted will to be somebody, to achieve something, to be even now in desire that somebody recognizable by his ideal.” (p.10). That is a good reminder for all of us to willfully seek to be somebody in whatever our passion is. For myself it was to be best I could be as a professor to my college students when I was teaching. Now since I am focused on being a counseling therapist my passion is to be my best as a people helper to help others reach their potential in their lives. He explains how the spiritual disciplines relate to intellectual development. Being in tune with the spiritual aspect of life is important in this work. He emphasizes the importance of prayer and times of silence. As to silence he states, “Hygienists recommend three things for the body: the bath, the air bath and the inward bath of pure water. I would like to add for the bath of the soul the bath of silence, in order to tone up the organism of the spirit, to accentuate the personality, and to produce the active consciousness of it.” (p 51). Especially is our culture of stress and constant doing his discussion on adding silence to life is so important. Even just 10-15 minutes of silent meditation at the end of the day has benefits for our mental and spiritual growth. We tend to think of mindfulness as a recent discovery since Jon Kabat Zinn and others research on it in the past 20-30 years. Yet I capture in these writings the concept of being mindfully present. “So aquire the habit of being present at this activity of the material and moral universe. Learn to look: compare what is before you with your familiar or secret ideas. Do not see in a town merely houses, but human life and history. Let a gallery or museum show you something more than a collection of objects, let it show you schools of art and of life…” (p71). This points to his emphasis on the aspects of life going into depth to get to the richness of life experience. Too often we are too superficial in our observations and it carries over to superficiality in our relationships. There is so much in this classic book which is why I feel it would be beneficial for all to read it. It is a life challenging and self improvement text. One more item of many that stood out to me about curiosity in our work. “The intelligence is like a child, whose lips never cease their why. Does a good educator leave this fruitful restless questioning unsatisfied? Does he not take advantage of this fresh curiosity…” (p.123). This thought shows the importance of keeping curiosity alive in our work and all areas of life. Curiosity keeps life long learning exciting. Another aspect of this book I enjoyed is he quotes other French philosophers and since I have never read any works by the French this opened me up to research other great thinkers from his time period. It was helpful to learn about the spiritual disciplines and other concepts of life from such a great thinker. Reflection: Are you mindful in your observing of things in life around you? Try going to a park and be mindfully present in your observations. Also think of a time you were truly curious about something in life. What are your memories of that?

Building a Miracle Morning Reading Habit

The last post I did was about The Miracle Morning book. Then I went on a cruise for a week. It was wonderful to see people reading while on the ship. Hal Enrod in his book has a section on reading. He says at the beginning of that chapter, “reading – is one of the most efficient and effective methods for acquiring the knowledge, perspectives and strategies you need to change, improve or optimize any area of your life.” His SAVERS system calls for reading 10 minutes in the Miracle Morning hour. He then shares how later near bedtime he reads for another 20 minutes. He encourages aiming for a minimum of 10 pages a day. This seems like a small amount but he shows how that equates to about 3,600 pages a year. He admits his emphasis is on non-fiction for personal growth. In saying this he promotes setting your purpose goal of what topic who wish to read. His examples are happiness, money or relationships. Of course there are more topics than those so choose a topic area or topics you wish to improve in and thus read. In the chapter he also looks at tips on making the most of your reading time. With your reading time ask yourself who are you reading what you are reading? This will help in your focus on your purpose. He mentions many readers make use of their favorite religious texts as part of their daily reading. He encourages marking up your books by underlining or circling key points. I often write notes in the margin of the book. Doing this helps encode the key important parts of the book into your mind. He then also encourages re-reading favorite books. You can often gain deeper insight into a book when you re-read it. Reading is helpful in building and renewing our lives in so many ways. Don’t say there is no time to read as anyone can find 10-20 minutes a day to help change their lives for the better through reading. Reflection: What is a book you enjoyed re-reading? How has that book impacted you?

Do You Want a Miracle in Your Life?

Stories of miracles can be motivational to improve our lives. I recently came across a book, The Miracle Morning by Hal Enrod. The message of his book is inspirational as you see him be transparent about miracles in his life and then enjoy his suggestions on how to move from victim in life to victor in life. He presents a helpful system in the book to kick up your daily living a notch. One often commonality in miracle stories is that they start with things we don’t like to experience – pain and difficulty. I remember years ago the pain of having two 99% closed arteries. The doctor said it was a miracle I did not die in my sleep. That experience opened my mind to be more engaged in living. Near death experiences are miracles in our lives but I don’t recommend having them. It is better to learn gratitude before something like that happens but happen they do. In Hal’s book he shares a near death experience of a tragic car accident. I won’t do a spoiler by describing it. Read the book. It was that accident that was clearly one turning point in his life to put him on a trajectory from victim to victor. He encourages readers for personal success to look at what they do in the morning and start the day off right with principles. His system of principles are- Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercising, Reading and Scribing. The last one Scribing is journaling the principles make an acronym SAVERS so you can understand why he used scribing harking back to ancient scribes who would right things down. If he used journaling you would have SAVERJ which would not make a good acronym. He fully describes each activity and shows how you can do all 6 in a morning hour to start the day. He frees people up to try out timing that works for them. Another thing I like is through the describing of the principles he mentions other books and podcasts for the reader to seek out more depth on each topic. I bought his most recent edition that also includes the miracle evening in how to prepare for a deep sleep and end your day well. As a Counselor I see that so many people with mental health concerns also have poor sleep so sleep is extremely important and Hal gives very good tips for a good night’s rest. Of his six principles my favorite is reading so I will probably dig deeper into that in my next post. That will be in two weeks as I am taking a week break from technology. Reflection: Of the 6 principles for daily success which is your favorite? Choose one and then do an internet search for articles on the principle and dig a little deeper into it. Check out Hal Enrod’s book and think about the miraculous in your life.

Use Visioning in All Areas of Your Life

I have written about visioning in the past and have even done a post in the past about the book I will mention today. Sometimes it is good to revisit a book from the past. The book I am speaking of is written by Lucia Capacchione Ph.D., Visioning 10 Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams. If you have never read it do yourself and your life journey a favor and get a copy. She goes in depth in her 10 steps in the visioning process and how to do vision collages. Early on Lucia provides a statement that I feel captures the essence of visioning: “Visioning is purposeful daydreaming applied to everyday life. It is about thinking with our heart and allowing your true wishes to become reality”. Visioning has also been described in the idea of “Seeing with your mind’s eye”. I know when I would ask college students where do we see visioning used in life students would share areas such as sports, architecture, inventors and many other career areas. Visioning is looking outward to creating a reality from what we carry in our hearts and minds. Lucia rightly describes how visioning begins with dreaming. She provides a helpful section discussing how dreaming is a foundation for our visioning. She uses in the introduction of her book the example of the dream of Walt Disney that turned into a vision for Disneyland which then turned into the reality of Disneyland. My favorite quote about dreaming is “It is not that we desire too much, but that we desire too little. Our appetites are not too big, they are too small.” By C.S. Lewis. We limit ourselves in our lives by having little dreams or saying we are too old to dream. But we can have new dreams at every stage of life. A good example of this is the story of John Goddard. When he was a teen about 14 he came up with a list of about 120 things he wanted to do with his life. By the time he was 40 he had accomplished most of the list. What many people don’t know is he kept dreaming and by the time he died in his 80’s his list was over 300. We can keep dreaming and visioning. Now in turning your dream into a vision in Lucia’s book she says to focus your mind on key words and phrases that describe your dream. Write these down on paper. Meditating on what you are forming think what is in your heart for a title of your dream? Then craft a verbal affirmation or a personal declaration related to your dream. This leads to a focus phrase that will be hook in your mind as you look for images for your vision collage. Another thing I like about her book is that she explains how moving from words to pictures helps in building a vision poster in collage form to solidify your vision and dream inside of you. So at this point you move beyond word sorting & sifting through pictures and key words that expand your Theme Phrase you created. Lucia in the book recommends looking though magazines and cut out pictures and words the speak to your about your vision theme. Be concrete and specific in your search. Sometimes your inner critic will speak up and say this is silly or a waste of time. If that happens tell your inner critic to “take a hike”. Make room for imagination and be your own Dream Weaver. Now with your pictures and words cut out, do some matching and development of your Collage Design. Move the pictures and words you cut out of magazines around the surface of your poster. Allow an order to form and then prepare to paste the pictures and words to the poster. I have provided just a few basics from her book here to create an appetite to get a copy of her book or request it at your local library. Look at your present life journey and see where and what a vision collage experience may help you keep moving forward to what you want in life. Reflection: Take some quiet time and vision yourself into the future 5 years ahead. Do some dreaming and think where do you see yourself and what do you want for your life? Create a theme for that 5 years in the future. Then get a small poster board and look for pictures and other key words to motivate your vision. Include the theme you created on your poster. Then create your vision collage pasting the pictures and words on your poster board. Keep your vision collage somewhere you will regularly see it.

Writing Important in the Healing Process

Since I often in my counseling practice recommend journaling to clients I decided to reread Writing As a Way of Healing by Louise De Salvo Ph.D. Hers is a book I often recommend to clients. She was not a therapist rather she was a professor of Fine Arts with a specialty in memoir writing. Yet this book shows she understood the power of writing as a way to heal. Early in the book she discussed Dr. Pennebaker’s research on the effectiveness of journaling with trauma. Let me list some guidelines on writing for healing that she distilled from Pennebaker: 1. Write 20 minutes a day over a period of four days. Do this periodically. This way you won’t feel overwhelmed. 2. Write in a private, safe, comfortable environment. 3. Write about issues you are currently living with, something you are thinking or dreaming about constantly, a trauma you’ve never disclosed or resolved. 4. Write about joys and pleasures too. 5. Write about what happened. Write, too, about feelings about what happened. What do you feel? Why do you feel this way? Link events with feelings. 6. Try to write an extremely detailed, organized, coherent, vivid, emotionally compelling narrative. Don’t worry about correctness, about grammar or punctuation. 7. Beneficial effects will occur even if no one reads your writing. 8. Expect, initially that in writing in this way you will have complex and appropriately difficult feelings. Make sure you get support if you need it. (pages26-27) Other than helpful tips on doing your own personal writing she provides stories how writing has helped people even famous writers such as Henry Miller, Virginia Woolf and others. De Salvo is also transparent in how writing helped her in her life with various situations. The examples she gives at times reveals how writers gain insight even from reading other writers. On page 54 she shares how May Sarton gained insight into writing laments by reading Henri J.M. Nouwen’s book, Out of Solitude. Reading through this book again gave me more insights and a deeper appreciation on the importance writing is in healing the many areas of our lives. Through writing we can bring closure to areas that need healing. It is also a process to flesh out new realities by visioning what we want for our life story. Reflection: Let’s do a creative activity to write about growth in our inner self. Look over this list of principles from my book, Living More Than OK: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Savoring Life, Goal Setting, Self-Esteem, Resilience, Purpose, Thankfulness, Taking Risks, and Spirituality. Take a clean sheet of paper and first at the top of the paper draw a symbol or paste a picture from a magazine of a symbol that you want to depict the inner life you desire, (maybe a tall tree, a flower, a lake, or ect.). Secondly below your symbol write 3 principles from the list that you would like to improve in your life. Then lastly write a paragraph about how growing in your 3 chosen areas will help improve your inner and outer personal life.

Stop and Smell the Roses With Awe

Awe is a difficult emotion to reduce to a simple definition. Even though defining it is difficult we can understand it when we experience it. The deep sense of wonderment in staring up into a starry sky. The enjoyment of deep peace in seeing a beautiful sunset or sunrise. The pleasantness of pondering over a precious memory that brings a sense of calmness. All these bring into our lives a feeling of awe. Wonderment, reflection, expanding our spirit to consider a greater power in the universe are feelings that make up awe in our lives. How can awe help us in the turmoil of anxiety, depression, pain and existential angst? Months ago I came across a book The Power of Awe that discussed and answered this question. It is written by Jake Eagle LPC, a psychotherapist and Michael Amster, MD, a physician and professor. They worked together on a method called AWE method to help people bring more awe into their lives. They worked on the method during the pre-Covid time era and did research on the method during Covid. The book is the result of their work and research. I was blessed to purchase a copy early and was part of a short class the authors did live online. This experience of meeting them online revealed their passion for awe and for being true people helpers. What is this awe method? On pages 63 & 64 they give a synopsis. A stands for attention which is giving your focused attention to what you find amazing, you appreciate or a memory you are fond of. The W is for wait, take a slow in breath and out breath pondering what you are attending. Then the E is for exhale and expand where on your final exhale you grow your feeling on the object of your attention. If you think that sounds like mindfulness you would be correct as it would be classified in the mindfulness family. If I remember correctly they term the method as a micro dose of mindfulness meditation. This is a way to introduce mindfulness more into our lives in brief 30 second time frames. If the book they discuss how this is used as they recommend 3-5 times a day. Since it only takes about 30-60 seconds that is a mere 5 minutes a day which most anyone can do. I always recommend meditation to my clients but I have had some who say they don’t have the time. Then when I explain the AWE Method they say “I can do that!”. The authors show the result of studies in the book of how their regimen has helped lower anxiety, depression and pain in the lives of people. And remember most of the studies were done during Covid when anxiety and depression were off the charts. Near the end of the book one of the many problem areas discussed was existential anxiety which I find in many of the people I work with in the Post-Covid era. The angst goes beyond covid and relates to the cultural difficulties people face in a busy fast paced world. This whole concept of Awe reminds me of a lecture I heard once by Dr. Tal Ben Shahar. He was taking note to how hurried people are in our electronic gadget age. He reminded the audience to “take the time to smell the roses” and notice the wonderment of the world around us. That is one element I have personally found in the AWE Method is it creates a better sense of noticing the beauty and wonder in the world. On page 163 the authors address this “We have found that awe—remarkably—works to alleviate existential anxiety, because it brings us out of Safety Consciousness (where existential anxiety arises) into Spacious Consciousness. When we experience Spacious Consciousness, time, words, measurements, and comparisons don’t exist, and so existential anxiety is no longer relevant.” Appreciating a Higher Power, appreciating the wonders of nature and the good things that have happened in our lives builds a bulwark of inner strength that add to gratitude and enjoying life amidst life’s difficulties. You can find more about the AWE Method at www.thepowerofawe.com or better yet buy the book. As I write this it is still before Christmas. What better gift to give to yourself or another is a gift that will help build a life of awe in the New Year? Reflection: Take a few minutes to ponder on an awe experience in your life. Was there something you experienced that brought a sense of wonderment to your life? How did you feel when you experienced that?

Emotions On Our Path To Wholeness

On the path we walk on in this life we all want to be whole persons not disjointed in our living. Recently I shared about another book that looked at holistic living with our mental health. Today I want to share about a book that centers on our emotions that make us who we are. Many of us struggle with managing our emotions especially the pesky negative emotions that are often when out of control, are a major influence on the problems we face. The book I wish to share is The Path to Wholeness: Managing Emotions, Finding Healing, and Becoming Our Best Selves by Dr. Mark Mayfield. Dr. Mayfield is a licensed professional counselor who is passionate about helping people with their mental health concerns. In his purpose section he shares the difficulty we have in managing our emotions. In this discussion I remembered how Dr. Scott Peck began his book, The Road Less Traveled, with “Life is difficult” which many stops along our life pathway is that way. With this book Dr. Mayfield wants to provide the reader with principles that will help us along our life path. He does this aptly with case studies of peoples’ stories he has helped as a Counselor and also sharing transparently life stories from his own life struggles. Each Chapter has reflection questions and action steps that add to the reader’s understanding so this is a book that would be good to use a journal while reading it. One important standout to me in reading this book was the importance of accepting our emotions: the good the bad and the ugly. Some clients will come to counseling with the idea of getting rid of their anxiety or depression. It would be nice to wave a magic wand and they disappear but not so. Emotions are and we can’t rid life of them. There needs to be an acceptance that the emotions are sign posts so we need to learn what the sign posts are saying. Dr. Mayfield in this book reminded me of what I used to tell students and tell my clients, “Learn to manage your emotions or they will manage you!”. The principles in the book help us in managing our emotions by understanding them and dealing with them in better ways. Near the end of the book Dr. Mayfield shares, “Wholeness is an ambiguous concept. Trying to attain it can feel like chasing a dream. It would be amazing to have a perfect emotional life, but is this truly realistic? Complete wholeness isn’t attainable this side of heaven, but Scripture says we can experience aspects of wholes as we work, strive and pay attention to integral things in our lives.” (page 137). Take a deep breath and realize you will never be perfect so why keep judging yourself by a standard of perfection. Yet we can keep learning and growing to have more abundance in our pathway of life. As I write this we are still before Christmas so what better gift is there than to help a friend with a gift that will keep giving in deeper knowledge of managing the emotional side of life for the better? This book can be found on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. Reflection: How is the emotional side of your life? Which emotions are you good at managing? Which emotions give you the hardest battle to conquer? Know you have been gifted with a mind that can manage your emotions before they manage you.

Appreciating a Passion for Reading

I just finished a book that caught my attention with the title, Rise of the Reader. As much as I love reading I could not help reading what the author, Nick Hutchison had to say. Nick is a speaker and a coach who is the founder of BookThinkers, bookthinkers.com a resource that connects authors to readers. The author shares his personal journey on reading that became a passion for him. His turning point in his life books was in his college years when he worked a Summer internship. One boss turned him onto positive growth podcasts and he noticed many of the ones he enjoyed spoke about personal growth books. He quickly learned he could grow in so many ways by reading so the passionate habit began to grow. A powerful thought he learned early is mentioned on page 5, “The best investment you can make is in yourself. The most cost effective investment in yourself is not a formal education, a week long retreat, or an online course… it’s a book. Why? Books only cost you $20 and take just a few hours to consume, yet they hold the same power to change your life as any of those other resources. The potential return on investment (ROI) is insane!” Imagine the good and progress that could happen in the world if more people would capture that mindset. The same spirit in that quote permeates the book. Nick in the book provides a wide array of tips on building a reading passion and making the most of your reading. In his forward he provides a tip I often remind people of who tell me they don’t have time to read : read 15 minutes a day once in the morning and once in the evening which would be about 20 pages a day. Do that for 5 days a week and that is about 100 pages a week. Then realize in a 52 week year you will have read 5,200 pages about 20 books a year. That is a pretty good start for a reading journey. Of his many ideas on reading I like his emphasis to be intentional in your reading. With each book have a purpose for reading the book. He also emphasizes there should be an output to put what you read into practice and that helps us ingrain in our lives the concepts learned in reading. Of course with those thoughts you can imagine rightly that most of the reading mentioned is nonfiction books. He doesn’t leave out the issue of enjoyable reading of which fiction writing is so important in enjoying good stories and we can often learn life principles in fiction. Near the end of the book he mentions some of the impact of reading in his life journey. “well, throughout my reading journey, I have upgraded the lens through which I see the world many times. I am constantly searching for new world views – new lenses-- that allow me to become healthier, wealthier, and happier.” (page 125). This is a reminder of how reading helps us grow and keep growing throughout or lifespan. This is just one of the many benefits of reading. The last portion of the book he shares tips on a variety of healthy and wealthy habits for living that he has gained through the books he has read. Reading through these tips helps to understand what reading adds to our lives. This is a book that will help passionate readers reaffirm their passion for reading so it is a great gift to avid readers in your life. At the same time it is a helpful book to someone you may know who wants to get into reading but has mental roadblocks like they were never good in school or do not have time. The author debunks those myths and provides tips and tools for reading success. Reflection: Think over the books you have read. Which ones helped change the lens through which you view the world around you and what you want out of life?

Giving the Gift of Inspiration for Reading

At Christmas I always promote the best gifts that add meaning to life. I believe books are at the top of the list as they develop the mind, emotions, and spiritual spheres of life. Recently, I came across a book that is wonderful to give to readers. The book is Learn to Love Reading by Alex Wieckowski. What Alex has done in this book is provide 365 quotes on the importance and love of reading. He has chosen a wide away of reader quotes from ancient Greek philosophers, writers throughout the ages, and modern business leaders to name a few categories of readers. One thing that drew me to the book I must say is I love quotes as they are brief ways to capture a person’s thoughts on a subject. Also being a bookhead I love books so putting the two together I could not resist getting a copy. According to his book he is a creator of a book brand, Alex & Books, and hosts a podcast called The Reader’s Journey. In the forward before he begins the quotes he shares, “It’s my sincere hope that this book will ignite your passion for reading, help you become an avid reader and be a better version of yourself.” This is an admirable hope for the readers of this book. The last phrase is so true that books and taking them to heart have an improving effect of us whether we read fiction or nonfiction. Let me just share a couple of quotes listed in the book— “Books have meant to my life what the sun has meant to the planet Earth.” Earl Nightingale, radio personality (on page 33). Like the sun books can add a warmth to our lives and speaking of life books allow us to dig deeper into living our lives to the full. “When I read, and really I do not read so much, only a few authors, a few men that I discovered by accident – I do this because they look at things in a broader, milder and more affectionate way than I do, and because they know life better, so I can learn from them.” Vincent Van Gogh, Painter (on page 39). This quote reflects back to Alex’s thought reading helps us be a better version of ourselves. Van Gogh is implying his reading helps him learn to be better. Also in the quote he mentions he found the authors by accident which reminds us don’t be afraid to try out a new writer as you may never know what new point of view you may learn. I am looking on going through the 365 quotes starting on January 1st of 2024. This book provides a quote a day for a full year. What better way to start the day with a reading quote. In his forward Alex also shares it is a good book to keep on the coffee table. That idea is good as well as you can then promote reading to guests as they thumb through the quotes and catch the love of reading. If you have an avid reader in your family or a friend whose passion is reading think of getting a copy of this book to them. Check out Alex’s website -- alexandbooks.com to learn more about him. Reflection: What is the level of your love of reading? How can you increase your reading going into the New Year?

Spirituality and Mental Health

In a couple of recent posts I spoke of someone who’s thoughts were an encouragement to me in getting back to reading spiritual classics, reading as well as being an encouragement of overcoming my doubts and starting back with my blog. I will be sharing thoughts on one of his books he has written, The Integrated Self: A Holistic Approach to Spirituality and Mental Health Practice. He was one professor, Dr. Lou Kavar, at Capella University who was an encouragement to me when I was working on my PhD dissertation. He is retired from teaching but still active as a spiritual life coach and blogger. The book is considered geared to spiritual guides, pastors, counselors, psychologists and others in the mental health field. Yet after reading it I think anyone who wants to grow in their knowledge of life balance and tapping into their spirituality would gain worth from reading and reflecting on his thoughts shared in the book. In the book he points out the difference between spirituality and religion and how they relate to our personal lives. I appreciate how he discusses the variety of religious traditions and how even those who tend towards agnosticism can tap into their own spirituality. Spirituality is a helpful connector to our human purpose and meaning in life that is vital for a well rounded life. The book is full of case studies of people’s spiritual lives and I appreciate how he is transparent in sharing his own spiritual journey as well. I mentioned he was a professor so there is a rich research component to his writing here to back up his concepts on the benefits of spirituality to the human experience. I want to share just a couple items that stood out to me that are helpful. The first is found on page 34 where he shares of building existential congruence in understanding out deepest self. He has a diagram that spoke to me in looking at four areas of life: Compassion for self and others, external limitations, personal abilities and understanding of one’s deepest self. It was insightful for myself in taking some reflection on my life in those areas. In our busy lives we need to take time to reflect on understanding ourselves better. Then the other item on page 54 is his idea of developing a spiritual history. He mentions there are differing ways of doing this. He suggests doing a time line of significant events in our lives on a sheet of paper and then on another sheet do a time line of significant spiritual events that have been part of our lives. What is interesting with this idea a person can them explore timeline connections between life events and spiritual experiences. There is much more to the book, those are just two that stood out to me and ones I especially enjoyed. Of course the great things about books --n100 people can read the same book and receive 100 different insights. This book is a short one so it is a nice weekend read. Dr Kavar also is a blogger and you can find his blog posts at blog.loukavar.com it is called Emerging spirituality weekly. At his blog site you can connect to his Youtube videos. I encourage you to check his blog as you will be encouraged. Reflection: Take some time to do a timeline of significant events in your life and then do a timeline of spiritual experiences. See if there are any unique insights you gain.

Living With The Presence of God

One blog and podcast I recently have been listening to had one posting about Spirituality where reading the spiritual classics from the past was emphasized. A re-reading of the Brother Lawrence classic, The Practice of the Presence of God came to my mind. So I found my copy of it and read it in an afternoon. Reading it made me think of the importance of living with the presence of God in my life each day. In the spiritual journey in this life, being in an awareness of God’s presence is an important part of our spiritual growth. Brother Lawrence was a lay member of a monastery of the Carmelites in Paris in the 1660’s. He lived a simple life doing work in the kitchen and running errands. In reading the conversations in the book and his letters even in the mundane of life he lived with an attitude of worship and wonder of God in all he did. One initial quote that stood out to me was, “Brother Lawrence told me we should establish ourselves in a sense of God’s presence by continually conversing with him. It was a shameful thing to quit conversation with God to think of trifles and fooleries…. We ought to give ourselves up entirely to pure surrender to God with regard to matters both temporal and spiritual and seek our satisfaction only in the fulfilling of His will, whether he leads us through sufferings or consolations.” Pgs 4-5. He took seriously the Apostle Paul’s admonition to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:16. It is a heart attitude to breath up communication with God throughout the day. He speaks elsewhere of throughout the day having a sense of reverential awe about God. One way to keep our mind mindfully aware of God is presented in one of his letters. “One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer and preserve it more in tranquility is not to let it wander too far at other times. You should keep it strictly in the presence of God. And being accustomed to think of him often you will find it easy to keep your mind calm in the time of prayer, or at least to recall it from its wanderings.” Page 55. From this quote and the overall text Brother Lawrence was a simple man who enjoyed the presence of God through out his life. One of his last writings a week before he died in a final letter he wrote this, “ God knows what is best what is needful for us, and all that he does is for our good. If we knew how much he loves us, we would always be ready to receive equally and with indifference the sweet and the bitter from his hand.” Page 71. How amazing that he kept a consistent walk with God until the final end of his life. It made me think am I fully aware of God’s love and that He has the best in mind for my life. Too often we think we have a better idea than God but that often leads to trouble. The best spiritual living is living with the awareness of the presence of God in all we do. Reflection: Think about a time in your life you were aware that God was there for you. How can you move deeper in an understanding of God’s presence in your life?

Can Our Minds Create A Placebo Effect?

I recently read the book, You Are The Placebo, by Dr. Joe Dispenza. The dictionary defines placebo as “a usually pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder”. They are often used is science studies to compare effectiveness of medicines to a harmless sugar pill. Reading Dispenza’s book reminded me of books I had read and conference sessions that often mentioned how depression and anxiety medicines are often no better than placebos. Also it reminded me how important our mindset and self talk is to our overall development even towards our physical health. I had read other books by Dr.Dispenza in the past. His primary education was his doctorate in Chiropratic studies. His real passion, and this comes out in his writings and especially this book, is the brain and neuroscience. This book shows the results of his research teams and research into the history of the power of the mind to change out possibilities and even produce physical changes in the body for our health. Later in the book he presents one main reason for writing the book,”It’s my hope that after reading this book, you’ll realize that the ultimate belief is the belief in yourself and in the field of infinite possibilities—and when you merge the belief in yourself as a subjective consciousness with your belief in an objective consciousness then you’re balancing intention and surrender.” (page 301). That is the main thing among others I appreciated is he is promoting the possibilities we each carry as we improve our thinking and mindsets about ourselves. Dr. Dispenza in the book provides numerous case studies from his work, from the history of medicine and research from others to show the power of the mind over the body and the importance of our mental mindsets. On page 85 he says, “The research is revealing that our thoughts and feelings, as well as our activities—that is our choices, behaviors and experiences – have profound healing and regenerative effects on our bodies.” He doesn’t just spout these statements he them provides case examples and also lists thoughts from other doctors. An example of this is “’As Ernest Rossi, PhD, writes in The Psychobiology of Gene Expression, “Our subjective states of mind, consciously motivated behavior, and our perception of free will can modulate gene expression to optimize health.’” And again I will mention he is not just putting words on a page Dispenza provides numerous case studies to back up what is being said. His section on choices, attitudes and beliefs discusses how these are foundational to the negatives and the positives that develop who we are. These can produce good or bad changes in our lives. If they are negative they limit our lives but if we move them towards the positive we can open more possibilities for good and higher potential in our lives. One benefit to our lives emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually is meditation. That is where Dr. Dispenza excels in this book. The final section is an in-depth discussion on the topic of meditation. I like how he dispels the myths about it and gives a solid description on how to do meditation and add it into our lives. He also provides scripts to meditations to use. I have noticed if you look Dr. Dispenza up on Youtube he has several of his meditations on Youtube for you to use. I found the book very eye opening. With the case studies of hearing stories of healings of people physically and mentally it makes for an enjoyable read. His section on meditation is also well worth reading the book just for that. Reflection: What is one attitude holding you back to your potential in life? How can you meditation into your add life schedule?

Fighting Back Against Negative Words

I was contemplating why in recent years it has been hard for me to do a post on my blog. Thinking it through I remembered even though I blamed my halting on my stress of doing my dissertation and home issues there was something deeper. Back when I was writing the blog in a regular fashion someone important to me keep saying that doing the blog was a waste of my time. No one really read it and it would never make any money. So the argument was why waste time writing it. I had forgotten all about those statements after I stopped writing in my blog. Recently remembering the comments reminded me how depressed I got at that time and figured the person was right. As I thought over the negative words I began to think at that time, that the words were right so I allowed those negative words to win and stopped writing. I rethought this all after receiving an email from another blogger who enjoys what he writes about. He doesn’t have a big following but has very good content and provides helpful thoughts on the spiritual sphere of life. I will be sharing about one of his books in the near future. His sharing about why he blogs made me think of how I caved into the negative thoughts on my “wasting time” blogging. It was true I did not have many people who read my blog but there were some who did. I even received some good comments along the way. As for money which is one negative set of words received I realized I wasn’t doing it for money. Instead it was for sharing my thoughts on books I had read. The hope was like my book, Living More Than OK, I would be able to share more resources of positive books so people could build their lives in a better way. My feeling back then was even if what I wrote helped even one person to have a better journey in their life, the time and effort was worth it. So I will fight back against the negativity and get back to regularly posting each week. I find it amazing how accepting negativity from others can alter things we enjoy. I enjoy reading and I enjoy sharing principles and ideas from books I find helpful. That is why in my book, Living More Than OK, as I looked at positive psychology and spiritual principles I included in each essay a number of helpful book resources for people to do further research on the various topics. So my blogging journey will continue forward with new renewed purpose. Reflection: Has negativity from others ever stopped you from following things you enjoy or a dream you had? What can you do to renew your pursuit of things you enjoy?

Summer Reading 2023

Since I decided to return to my blog, Living More Than OK, and with Summer here I wanted to check up on Summer reading programs. As I mentioned in my book, Living More Than OK, the local Summer reading program in my hometown library in Barberton, Ohio started my passion for reading. That was in second grade when my mom got me involved in the Summer reading program. I am so glad that libraries have kept the program alive over the years as reading is so important in life. I recently went over to my local New Braunfels, Texas public library and the parking lot was full and they had their reading program in full swing. I then checked out my hometown Barberton library website and noticed the theme for this Summer program is “All Together Now”. Each year there is a national theme. This theme captures in my mind how the program has expanded to all ages so it is trying to get the whole family and all people reading. I like that idea,as far as I am concerned, the more people reading is a good thing to aim for. Each Summer I remember and picture in my mind going up the second floor of my public library. Each week I would pick out a couple books for the program. I was also able to tell one of the children librarians about what I read. I believe that practice helped me to do better in school above and beyond just the reading which helped build vocabulary and understanding. Back then the program collected stickers for a certificate at the end of the Summer. In today’s world they provide physical prizes for the children reading programs. I think that is great as that can help build motivation for some children who may not be that into reading. Then through that positive reinforcement some of them may become lifelong readers. I have also been glad to see now the program is for all ages. Reading needs to be encouraged throughout the life span to help keep minds active. I believe in physical exercise but I also believe reading is important exercise for the mind and brain. Adults lives can become so busy so there is a need to slow down and one great slow down activity that engages the brain is reading. The reading programs also reminds me of those who influenced my reading in my life. My mom although she was not educated knew education was important so encouraged my involvement in the reading program. The children librarians were so nice and friendly so they encouraged my reading. Then as I mentioned in my book my third grade teacher, Mrs. Verna Clifford, promoted the importance of reading. Each week she would take time to read to the class a work of fiction. I hope as you read this you will think back to memories of reading in your past. Also be involved in reading this Summer 2023. Encourage those around you whether family or friends to be involved in reading programs. Reflection: Who made an impact in your life about reading? What is a favorite reading memory?

Books Can Change the Person and Society

Recently someone suggested I watch the movie, Idiocracy, to consider and reflect on the direction the world will be going. The movie was produced back in 2005. I found it interesting that it was filmed in the Austin, Texas area. I am not a big movie watching person but the title intrigued me so I watched it. The story line is of a U. S. Army Librarian, Joe, who is enlisted into a sleep hibernation program and the partner the government teamed him up with was a Prostitute, Rita. Problems occur so they wind up waking up 500 years later. The America 500 years into the future is a Dystopean junkyard. Trash is everywhere and the population has been dumbed down. Technology has advanced but the mentality of the people is low IQ, driven by base animal impulses and consumerism. Big corporations are puppet masters of a stupid president. Most of the problems are caused by the one big corporation that has destroyed agriculture. Everyone has a bar code to buy and sell which gets Joe in trouble as he has no bar code. Through a series of events he is brought to the President as tests have shown Joe’s IQ is so high above all others. He is given the task to solve the food problem. He eventually does that, all the while he is trying to find a time machine to get back to his home 500 years earlier and wanting to take Rita with him. At the end when he solves the problem Rita tells him she wants to stay. He though torn with the idea of going home, stays as well and they as a couple bring into the new future 3 smart high IQ children. Watching the movie I wondered to myself if we are not presently living in Idiocracy? Many of our present problems stem from puppet masters who have brain washed large swaths of the public to react emotionally to selfish tech consumerism. Many do not use critical thinking in their personal lives nor do they seek to build up the inner life to build a better future for themselves and their families. The movie was entertaining but the message related well to what we see in our present era and if not challenged our problems can only grow worse into the future. There was a small snippet in the movie that stood out to me. It was when Joe is speaking about his desire to go back in time and he was going to tell the people 500 years earlier to read more. He understood the power of working our minds and souls through reading. One way to keep the brain washing away is to keep working our minds with reading actively instead of passively responding to staring at mindless technology. The elites of the world want the masses to not think for themselves but to be compliant worker ants for the elites ease and pleasure. A good habit of reading books can help keep our minds growing. As we each grow in our thinking critically we can then encourage others to follow in the habit of reading. Hopefully others will understand the importance of building their minds in stronger and freer ways. By doing so there can be a positive effect on society; thus building a society where free thought can break away from the hold of the brain washing of the elitists. Reflection: What is a favorite life changing book you have read that you would recommend to someone else?

Time For A Restart

Recently I was reading an article about being ready for a fresh start and I thought about this blog I started writing some years ago. Before COVID when I was stressed with my PhD dissertation I had stopped writing it. Then other life issues came along and I stopped again. I kept thinking I should go back to it but kept putting it off. The fresh start article got me thinking about doing a restart of writing in the blog. The actual article focused more on starting new habits and new ideas. That is a good thing to do also in life but for me the fresh start was another calling me back to this blog. So at this point in time a fresh start for me will be going back to the writing here in my blog Living More Than OK. I have decided that the enjoyment of putting my thoughts from the various books I read is important. I love reading and I love writing so it is time to get back to it. I hope to do a post each week but I will not judge myself if I don’t do a post each week. I will probably be more steady at it if I keep the judgment voice away. We all can be our own worst enemies that way. I do hope what I write will encourage anyone who stops by here. Restart is a new beginning and a chance to break out of being stuck by the weight of self judgment. Part of the stuckness with this blog for me was as in the past wondering what impact can I have. With the restart I began to think don’t worry about that. Get the writings out there and let any reader who stops by to receive their own personal impact. Each person is their own person and they can decide what to learn for themselves what helps them on their personal journey. So today I am making a commitment to myself to go back to my writing here at Living More Than OK and share my thoughts on various books I read. Reflection: Is there something in your life where you need to do a restart? x