Archive for the ‘Book Club’ Category

A pot pourri of questions & books:

Questions:

1.  Is formal education redundant?

2.  How does one become a futurist?

3.  What the h e double hockey sticks happened to me on Tues?

Books to Read Next:

1.  ’Shadow Elite’ by Janine Wedel

2. ‘Committed’ by Elizabeth Gilberts

3.  ’On The Road’ by Jack Kerouac

Currently Reading:

‘Gargoyle’ by Andrew Davidson

I recently read “Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother Daughter Story” by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor. This book is “a wise and engrossing book about feminine thresholds, spiritual growth, and the relationship between mothers and daughters” and I loved it!

The sections by the mom, Sue explore many facets of aging and deepening spirituality, while Ann’s chapters are lighter, exuberant and achingly truthful.

Being the mom of three daughters and personally going through many of the mid-life questioning and questing that Sue is doing, I am savoring this book as one would savor a big, round ripe pomegranate! I am finding a deepening and an enriching of my spirituality emerging with the reading. It also gives me distinct pleasure to be reading this book in an area of the western world that has welcomed Eastern spirituality and religious freedoms. Vancouver, with it’s partner city San Francisco, spawned the hippie movement, which provided a gateway for the emerging Eastern spirituality and the furthering of a differentiation between religion and spirituality

First, here are some definitions from Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org ):

“Religion: A religion is a set of tenets and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, or religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience. The term “religion” refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.”

“Spiritual: Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and faith, a transcendent reality, or one or more deities. Spiritual matters are thus those matters regarding humankind’s ultimate nature and purpose, not only as material biological organisms, but as beings with a unique relationship to that which is perceived to be beyond both time and the material world. Spirituality also implies the mind-body dichotomy, which indicates a separation between the body and soul.

As such, the spiritual is traditionally contrasted with the material, the temporal and the worldly. A perceived sense of connection forms a central defining characteristic of spirituality — connection to a metaphysical reality greater than oneself, which may include an emotional experience of religious awe and reverence, or such states as satori or nirvana. Equally importantly, spirituality relates to matters of sanity and of psychological health. Spirituality is the personal, subjective dimension of religion, particularly that which pertains to liberation or salvation.”

So, while spirituality may be connected to religion for some, it can also be the subjective sense of “a power greater than oneself, a sense of expansiveness, connection and awe” that is experienced outside the realm of organized religion. It is this sense of expansiveness and connection that guides hippy grandma to keep the hippy love flowing for generations so our children and our grandchildren and on and on, may also catch some star dust!

“The true harvest of my life is intangible – a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched” – Henry David Thoreau

Enjoy your day.

peace, namaste & hippy love for generations,

Zoey

OK, so I actually squeezed in 11 books, however, here are the “Top 10/11 Novels” (not in order of preference), that have influenced my life and writing:

1.  ”One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2.   “House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende

3.  ”A Prayer for Owen Meany” and “The World According to Garp” by John Irving

4.  ”The Blind Assasin” by Margaret Atwood

5.  ”The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver

6.  ”Loving Frank A Novel” by Nancy Horan

7.  ”The Mists of Avalon” by Marion Zimmer Bradley

8.  ”Mexico” by James Mitchener

9.  ”Possession” by A S. Byatt

10. “The Fifth Sacred Thing” by Starhawk

peace & namaste,

Zoey

Zoey’s Top 7 Book Picks:

 

Passionate Presence: Experiencing the Seven Qualities of Awakened Awareness 

by Catherine Ingram

A Path With Heart: A Guide Through The Perils And Promises of Spiritual Life

by Jack Kornfield

A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

by Byron Katie

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

 by Eckhart Tolle

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose 

by Eckhart Tolle

A Woman’s Journey to God: Finding the Feminine Path

 by Joan Borysenko

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

by Pema Chodron

Enjoy these books my friends!

“May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in beauty and joy each day.”

– Native American Proverb

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

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