Books Change Lives -- when we choose

     When people discuss books that changed their thinking, my friends often hark back to books 20 and 30 and even 40 years ago. Certainly I read some life-changers back then.
     That said, though, there are some awesome books I have found recently that have challenged my way of being in the world, and changed my life.
     A book that changed my framework for living is Daniel Pink's _A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future_. It is much more about Whole brain thinking than about any superiority of Right Brain thinking. What it does is take away the presumed supremacy of the Left-Brain dominated systems which depend on logic and "just the facts" at the expense of human experience and creativity.
     I first heard about the book when I completed my training as a labyrinth facilitator. The labyrinth walk is a whole-brain activity, and the Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress is featured in its pages. I had the good fortune to be trained by Dr. Artress, and one of the sessions brought the Daniel Pink book to my notice.
     The book is structured around Pink’s Six Senses for the Conceptual Age: the time following the Information Age. Pink expounds on the societal shift we are currently experiencing, and points to the “senses” we can develop or embrace in order to make the most of our new way of being.
     These senses are Design; Story; Symphony; Empathy; Play; and Meaning.   
     When I completed my training and returned home, I purchased my own copy of _A Whole New Mind_ and explored more deeply the aspects Dr. Artress had not had time to include.
     In the pursuit of more about Story, I found online a site about The Power of Personal Story, operated by Bo Eason.
     The Bo Eason site was promoting a conference where he would be speaking the following June. I explored further, and eventually registered to attend. I met hundreds of fascinating people, some of whom have become friends and / or colleagues. I also went forward with more training with Bo Eason, and attended a second conference that same year. At one of the sessions, he began by referencing a work he had found important in his life: _A Whole New Mind_ by Daniel Pink.   I felt shivers. If ever I had a feeling of what Oprah calls a Full Circle Moment, that was surely it.
     The interweaving of people and events and books and experiences makes for an amazing life. It can be complicated trying to unravel how the threads support our choices and potentials and intentions. It is, nevertheless, well worth the effort.
      As we become secure in the knowledge that we have made an underlying plan, we can become more brave, more willing to follow our dreams. They exist, surely, to lead us in the direction we have always intended to go.

 

Inspired Alignment https://www.facebook.com/groups/InspiredAlignment/ is an initiative of Tamlyn Hill, founder of the 3D-Lifeprint program myself. Each day a featured teacher posts inspirational and thought-provoking material for discussion.      Be sure to join in. https://www.facebook.com/groups/InspiredAlignment/

     Jo Leath has been supporting clients through change and growth since the 1980s.
     For a consultation, in person or by Skype click here
     For a free printable labyrinth click here