psychology

Soul Without Shame, Byron Brown

a deeply personal approach to compassion that stopped me in my tracks. I totally reconsidered how I "talk" to myself.

 

freudian trip

 

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys, Kindlon + Thompson

this changed the way I see men

 

are you willing to be toast?: authentic transformation

“Authentic transformation is...not a matter of translating the world but of transforming the world; not a matter of finding solace but of finding infinity on the other side of death. The self is not made content; the self is made toast.”
- Ken Wilber

There have been a few ideas that rocked my world. Krishnamurit’s opinion of discipline {it’ll only stifle your true nature,} the possibility that Jim Morrison might still be alive {I believe, I believe!} and Ken Wilber’s description of authentic transformation.

For much of our lives, we naturally dabble in and actively pursue change. Notions of ego-transcendence. Becoming a better person. Finding new language to communicate the same things we’ve been saying all along. Change dabbling is genuinely progressive. It feeds the spring of our creativity. It keeps us fresh. In this context, “change’ is an evolution of selfhood.

But what Ken baby is talking about is a REVOLUTION of self. And that’s mighty appealing in terms of knowing your white hot truth. Just the mere willingness to be ‘toast’, to be shattered, will expand you to new proportions.

So then the question is, are you willing to transform? ... to give it up; to be the fool, to re-write your story, to not recognize yourself; to believe differently; to be something, someone, you have not yet known? Sounds miraculous.

It’s scary. And exciting. Miracles are like that. Authentic transformation doesn’t necessarily depend on a nirvana experience or a nervous breakdown -- though, hitting rock bottom can be incredibly efficient. It can happen over time with new questions and courageous decisions.

You can start a revolution with a lightning-bolt, or by burning one limiting belief at a time. Are you willing to walk through the fire?

 

how to handle life…

 

Since the beginning we have asked the same questions…

 

The Unfolding Now, by A. H. Almaas

one of the most important books I've read

 

Letters to a Young Therapist, Mary Pipher

cozy psychotherapy

 

The good way must be…

 

I And Thou, Martin Buber

a philosophical classic