alfredkouris
For a morning read, this was short, thought provoking and engaging. It raised some questions about marriage / partnership and the ‘social economy' that I have not considered before, and tuned my eye to that of a conservationist in the age of technological enhancement...shit, this was written in 1987/9?
I wonder what the author thinks of the world today.
I love this:
“Finally, it seems to me that none of my correspondents recognizes the innovativeness of my essay. If the use of a computer is a new idea, then a newer idea is not to use one.”
Also a generous nod at the end to embodied learning, how the body ‘characterises' everything it touches. Awesome.
Every chapter is like a really important kick to the dick. So nice to sit with something for a few weeks and gradually and let it ruminate and unlock areas of my empathic mind.
There's also so much lingo that gets used now which I have no grasp on, which I feel shame about, and so it was nice to have my ‘dumb questions' answered thoroughly and intellectually (I find random google searches linking to 100 word blog posts unhelpful for me personally)
I hear so many conversations about ‘race' that I have been reluctant to enter because it feels like a mine-field where if I speak I would just be spouting nonsense, and this book very kindly (and in an easily digestible way) helped me understand my nonsense and where to go from there, both in conversation and in my actions as a human.
Learning a lot. Lots more to learn!
loved it. these are simple and thought provoking arguments for a relationship well lived. Perhaps I liked this so much because it felt like a written summary of the 50 odd minutes of De Botton I swallowed on YouTube. If you're engaging with this stuff for the first time, I would first suggest checking out his most popular talk ‘Why You Will Marry The Wrong Person' on YouTube. I have a lot to learn!
Trying hard to engage with writing, documentaries, podcasts etc. to learn more about my self (particularly self care and self love, boundaries etc.). and this hits that on the head.
All feels a bit muddy at the moment, but I hope to yield some fruits from my research soon.
I loved it. I hated how much I loved it. I really struggled with this book - and yes before you ask that IS because I too am a product of ‘The Trick' (when you know you know).
On my quest to become a better man, I feel really lucky to have stumbled on this, which seemed to say to me ‘it's okay mate, I get it' the whole time (even when I was denying the similarities and getting angry at Webb himself).
It was also intensely powerful for me to read someone sharing their failures, and their mistakes so openly and (would you believe) in an incredibly non-self-loathing way. As someone who sits very deeply into the self-loathe, this was reassuring of the idea that equanimity does in fact exist, mistakes that are choking me in the present will free me in the future.
Recommended by: Ryan McMurray (thanks)
Peace
I started this book to understand addiction. I finished this book understanding myself (1% more).
Yep. Changed my life. Holy moly.
Yes - grain of salt - yes - but that's with anything...Could probably skip the whole anecdote in step 6...
but other than that I was really really impressed with how this managed to communicate that it's OK and it's Human to make mistakes, to give in to the monkey mind, to choose the wrong ‘program' to solve our darkest, deepest woes - it's human to suffer in this way.
But it's also human to believe in something greater within, and this is one of the many ways to find that.
Some quotes:
‘The inner condition is what we must address.
When you start to eat, drink, wank, spend, obsess, you have lost connection to the great power within you and others. The power around all things. There is something speaking to you and you don't understand it because you don't speak its language - so you try to palm it off with porn but it's your spirit and it craves connection.
Spend time alone. Write. Pray. Meditate. This is where we learn the language.'
“If we all feel we are alone then how alone are we? If we all feel worthless then who is the currency of our worth being measured against?”
“We are all here suffering together. Our job is to help and love eachother”
“I think it's part of being human. To carry a wound. A flaw. And again, paradoxically, it is only by facing it that we can progress”
++++ for Alfred the way he speaks of Meditation & solitude.
PS my favourite quote from the book, and a reminder of how much we are changed by everyone we interact with:
‘In chemistry, when two substances are introduced, if either component reacts at all then both are changed forever'
I'm really glad I read this. It's not often that I get to read another person's journal and (more or less) unfiltered thoughts, worries, hopes etc etc. and it was so instructive in terms of what a creative process requires, and how much of oneself (must?) be given to output something that is infused with passion, honesty and heart.
Also how much planning, thought and discipline is required
Super duper
The course of LOVED it
It was great. Simple storytelling, purpose driven philosophy. A good accompaniment to ‘Attached' which I read recently (it seems De Botton subscribes to the findings of attachment theory).
Love is a skill! Keep on loving folk xx
This was a very small play (unexpectedly for some reason?).
I'd seen footage of Timothée Chalamet performing a monologue from it and so it's been in the back of my head. Feels strange that this was written in 2016? However these kind of Discourses on teaching and the power of the written word I find fascinating. The main character feels like such a classic enigma child though which was a bit of a throw off. Would love to see it live.
“Teachers don't tell you what they tell you in books. Charles Dickens tells you everything. Henry Miller tells you everything. Teachers tell you about other people, never themselves. You teach Religion, but I don't know anything about religion from you. I've never seen your soul. I've never met your God.”
Sooooo goooood
This is essentially Brene Brown's ‘Call to Courage' Netflix special but in much more detail. She's an incredible speaker, who communicates to her audience in such a wholehearted and empathic way - I could listen to her say the same things over and over again (but that might become a tool for numbing, so maybe I just need to get up and do some shit). In terms of doing my own work - she offers such clear principles around managing shame and vulnerability. For me, the empowerment comes from how she gives language to so many common experience: which gives me understanding and allows for transformation.
Here's why this is the best:
- it's better than a book because I'm listening to her speak
- It's more engaging than an audiobook because she is speaking to an audience in real-time
- It's more powerful than a podcast because it's broken into 6 talks that build on eachother.
And a few quotes I collected (from the 2nd half onwards)
“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're being uncool”
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better” (I can't remember if she just referenced Maya Angelou or said this)
“The opposite of play is not work. The opposite of play is depression”
“an animal will handicap itself just to continue playing, showing that play is about contest but not competition”
Oh...she talks about slash careers. Yes. ‘We only get to be what makes money'. Why not both? I'm an actor (I make no money from acting) and a web/app designer. Deal with it world.
“We have to decide. Yes wholeheartedness is hard. But not fully living our lives is much harder, and much more dangerous”
I've got a lot of work to do. I'm grateful for having the opportunity to explore that shit. Thanks Brene.
Also I used to be TERRIFIED of writing what I thought about books on goodreads (I still am a bit lol) because I was so worried about what people would think of what I think. And I do care, but not about everyone — so this is my first step into not people pleasing. Peace.
Kind of mind blowing. Feel a bit sick that I needed convincing of all of this info (because it's so far from what I was taught growing up)
Really incredible. A must read for our generation, I think. Truly deepened my understanding of Australia
Wow — this really made me get back into nonfiction.
It's interesting, part of me is skeptical of how much the author has fictionalised these accounts to paint himself as an incredible therapist (which he obviously has written himself as).
I was often left asking ‘what truly happened in this interaction' or ‘what were the original words of the dream', but understand the need to make refinements and to take artistic liberty for the sake of communicating story & purpose.
It was deeply insightful - and revealed a lot to me about the patient / therapist relationship & why I am engaged in it/what I am seeking.
Additionally, it's helped open up a world around death and making a mental note that it's a topic i'd like to keep thinking about and exploring.
Love
Yahoo
That was awesome. What a ride. Listening to Stephen Fry deliver this is so enjoyable
Nothing bad to say. A portal into a new place and a very detailed adventure. Two to go
This is a fantastic introduction to Improvisation, and the fundamental principles of the ‘game' - and of course, the many ‘games' that are introduced along the way.
Truth in Comedy clearly breaks down what is coined a “Harold”; an improvisation performance exercise, dissecting it not only into its parts but also the foundations that make it such a strong way to create improvised work.
Don't brush over all of the maxims that are shared - as the book can roll on for a little while, delving into concepts that should be experienced much more than they should be read about, but I found making note of the key principles intensely useful, not just for improv but acting in general, and on that interacting with others.
Key takeways:
- “the only way is the organic way, the ending cannot be decided until the spur of the moment”
- “laughs come from connections made in the work”
- “players must remember, not invent”
- improv is about discovering, not making things up.
& most importantly, if you want to do a violent scene, do it in slow motion.
Enjoyable, fast and useful read.
I am just a vehicle for my subconscious, abundant creative nature to make its way into the world
Cheers Konstantin
It was bizarre. So much of this flew way over my head (I've been a bit of an unfocused reader recently).
That said, I'm really glad I read this. Kafka paints with such a complexity of greys - it felt like Camus at times, and then like Bulgakov at others. Some beautifully written scenes (the painter, the church).
It's nice to read some other reviews where people were saying that they too thought they knew what was going on and then it was like the book was saying ‘you know nothing' and realise we're all in the same boat.
Thanks Franz
SO GOOD
This not only deepened my meditation practice, it also guided my understanding of the ‘big picture' of the mindfulness practice as a way of training the mind to experience the world in a certain way - and encouraged me to seek out the lessons offered by the book through deepening my awareness of experiences.
The practice of being mindful is not isolated to sitting time meditating, but is available to me at any time when I am awake and mindful.
This book is a solid reference point to a practical lifestyle/philosophy. Very accessible. Something I would definitely recommend to anybody interested in deepening an understanding of the roots of their meditation practice. I feel more connected to why I meditate, where the practice originated from and what it means to be a master of the mind.
COOL
Way to go, Melbourne based author. Not taking this too seriously, it was just good fun
And really cool to read something that came out of workshopping within a University /institutional education context (RMIT / 16th Street etc etc)
