Stepping Out of Time

‘'Tears that fall on barren land produce nothing- they're cried in vain.'' This is a beautiful and poignant quote, isn't it? It fully embodies the spirit of the book. As in [b:On the Other Hand: The Little Anthology of Big Questions 23304855 On the Other Hand The Little Anthology of Big Questions Renée Paule https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1412421468s/23304855.jpg 26652461], Renée doesn't provide answers or solutions, this isn't a ‘'self-help'' in the traditional form of the genre. This is a collection, a communication of thoughts and feelings, on past and current problems and the way they plague us as we are, admittedly, unwilling to let them go. ‘'Stepping Out of Time'' is a wonderful title. The way I perceive it, time can become our best assistant or our worst enemy and in our current, phrenetic era it is often the latter. However, time isn't only an assortment of seconds, minutes, hours. It is our past, our present and our future. It has significance, quality and the amazing power to dictate and be dictated - up to a certain degree- by our decisions and our actions. Are we free to control it? Are we able or even willing to? This is the main thought that frequented my mind as I was reading. I read the book in a day and a half but it took me a few days to start my review, there were so many thoughts in my mind. Renée writes an exciting chapter named ‘‘Hello World'' that is dedicated to the way a baby sees and perceives the world, something that I consider to be the biggest mystery in mankind and one (out of many) that we'll never be able to fully solve. The baby is slowly, gradually influenced by the behaviour of the family circle and this is the point where the first mistakes start taking place. ''Know Thyself'' is arguably one of the most reproduced, pinned and, in the end, misinterpreted phrases in history. Renée writes an analysis that I felt set things straight. In the chapter ''Relationships'', there is a striking sentence: ‘'When meeting people for the first time we pigeon hole them into categories''. I am definitely guilty of the crime and I confess I will remain so. Too much time spent daily as a commuter in the Tube in Athens can leave you permanently damaged. What I want to say is that the questions Renée poses are sincere, on the spot, and uncomfortable. They prompt you to think on many issues that are locked safely in our brains and we don't really wish to uncover them. The chapter ‘'Stepping Out of Time'' is dedicated to dreams and it is the one that really struck me. I have read a lot on dreams and the process of dreaming, but this text provided an imposing question. Does our world stop existing while we're asleep? The illustrations and the poems make the book an exciting experience and help lighten the mood a bit, because it is not an easy read. A successful ‘'self-help'' book doesn't hand you answers on a silver platter, in my opinion. The writers should let us into their private thoughts and it is our task to decide on whatever answers we can dig out of them. Renée does this to perfection. Many thanks to Renée Paule for giving me the opportunity to read this marvellous book.