Book Review: The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

A simply incredible read!!!!

For those of you who may be wary of reading this book, let me first state that it is not a book pushing the Buddhist doctrine or faith. This book explains in simple and profound ways how to approach life well and how to develop, encourage, and nourish happiness in one's life, while eliminating the negative factors that push us towards the unhealthy and harmful traits of anger, cruelty, and impatience.

I found this book extremely helpful and liberating. It is not a quick fix/self-help/guru book though so, if you are looking for that, search elsewhere my dear readers. This book is about changing your mental attitude and approach to life.

The underlying fundamental factor to this is one of true compassion, recognizing that all of us deserve and want to be happy and eliminate our suffering, and how to connect to anybody, even people we dislike, because we are all human beings who seek and have a right to these things.

I recommend this book to absolutely everybody; but, especially to those experiencing a hard time in life, those who are suffering either physically or mentally, those who are depressed, or those who just feel that life has tossed them a raw deal.

I have been trying very hard to implement the ideas from the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler from this book since I finished reading it, and I can honestly and truly say it is making a difference in my life. We have had some particularly difficult times in my house during the last six months. I finished my contract at the college I have been working at and have been desperately searching for a job, I was injured in the car accident (see earlier posts), and my husband lost his job. We have gone from saying no to treats and such to saying no to everything, and I mean everything that we have considered a given in life: long distance telephone service, transportation, gas for hot water and cooking, you name it. Shut off notices have unfortunately been a regular occurrence. What this book helped me realize, among many other things, is that our mental attitude really truly does change not only how we view things but how we feel and how we affect others.

I always thought that I was a grateful person, but I found I was more bitter than I realized. I discovered and dealt with issues from graduate school that I still harbored, this resentment that I had that life keeps giving me raw deal after raw deal when others in the media seem to have so much and I seem to have nothing, that my son doesn't have everything he "deserves." And I took a step back and truly examined them and tried to learn from them with an honest and truly objective perspective as this book/the Dalai Lama advises. When seen truly objectively I learned from them and didn't merely attempt to "just move on."

I now really mean it in my mind, in my being, in my whole self when I think and say "I am blessed" because: how many people around the world do not have hot water in an instant at a tap anytime they want it and are not just without it for a short period of time? How many people cannot conveniently go down a flight of stairs to almost effortlessly have clean dry clothes anytime they want? How may people in the world have a telephone? How many people have a car? How many people can go less than a mile and purchase a wide variety of food to eat? How many people live in a safe and violence free home? How many people have a wonderful spouse and are blessed by the gift of a healthy child/children? How many people had the opportunity to work for their education and truly appreciate the gift of a university education? How many people in the world have a Masters degree? How many people keep in contact with their family and actually like them and appreciate them? And the list goes on and on and on...

I have seen and felt, hands down, the benefits of this book in my life. My husband, child, and I certainly appreciate each other more now and spend more time together now, really spend time together. Neither of them read the book. It is merely by me alone changing my mental attitude and approach to things that has changed theirs as well. Heck, I even noticed a difference in people I do not even know in the grocery store for Pete's sake! Before I would get impatient at lines or having to move out of somebodies way to let them pass, or letting people in while in traffic...come on, you know you do this...and I have seen a sort of chain reaction. When I change my approach, so do others.

It is really and truly an astounding book. I hope this review and my reflections on it encourage you to read it. I am certain it will positively benefit you if you read it and truly take in the ideas, lessons, and gems found within it. This book and the Dalai Lama himself are truly some of life's greatest treasures.

And so it goes...

Brief Book Reviews of Two Works by Maya Angelou: Journey and Stars

 

These two works by Maya Angelou are not part of the autobiographical series (six books) that begins with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The two books I am discussing here are more like a collection of small vignettes which discuss various topics.

The wonderful thing about these two works and the later book of the same style, Letter to my Daughter, is that they are chock full of sage advice and that they examine the human condition. I think that is what I personally love about Maya Angelou, she unabashedly and without any sense of shame or shyness lays out her experiences in life and has something everybody can relate to on the human level. One of the most amazing things about being a human being is that we can reflect on our experiences and learn from them and learn from the lives of others. We, as people, do not just exist moment to moment in a basic way like other species do.

The books cover so many topics, that I think it best perhaps to just list a few of them to give you a general idea of the types of things she discusses:

House vs. Home

Africa

Oprah Winfrey

Aging

Sensuality and Sexuality

Fame

Anger/Rage/Violence

Being a Woman

How to Live Well
The Power of Faith and Spirituality

These two books, like so many of her other published pieces, make one feel as if they are receiving sage advice, wisdom, and a sense of peace via conversations with a dear and beloved friend. I recommend these titles, and really all of her works, to everybody and anybody who is a member of the human race.

And so it goes...

Book Review: A Song Flung Up To Heaven by Maya Angelou

This is the final book in her autobiographical series (6 of 6) that begins with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This book begins where number five left off: she returns home to the U.S. after living in Africa for several years. A very brief recap that is basically the same as the end of All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes begins this work.

A great deal of this book is Maya beset by tragedy and learning from it, something we all do or should do, as these unpleasant events in our lives occur. The initial reason for her return to the U.S. was to work with Malcolm X, who is assassinated almost immediately upon her return. She learns this devastating news while visiting her mother and brother in California. After there only a short time, the now famous Watt's riots break out, she visits the scene first-hand, and gives some poignant observations.

In typical fashion, Maya learns what she can from these events and moves on with her existence. She is once again asked to take part in the Civil Rights movement by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC, by visiting churches around the U.S. which, she agrees to do but, not until her birthday on April 4th, 1968. For those of you who do not remember your history, this is the date when MLK was assassinated. So now Maya must try to strive forth with the death of two friends on her conscious. The deaths of two great leaders is ultimately too much for Maya to bear. She withdraws from people and isolates herself to recover however she can.

Maya takes all of these experiences and finds a way not only to cope with them but, also to examine them and learn from them. These events, although tragic, are ultimately what finally leads her into becoming a writer and poet, permanently. The book ends with her "new beginning" and the initial creation of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

And so it goes...

Happy Father's Day!!

To my hubby and all you other great Dad's out there, Happy Father's Day!!

May your day be filled with peace, quiet, newspapers, sports, brewskies, and any other thing your hearts desire!!

And so it goes...

How you KNOW you are back in Chicago...

You KNOW you are back in Chicago when...

1.) People NEVER use turn signals
2.) The speed limit in construction is 45 mph but people go 85 mph
3.) You loose a tooth from gritting your teeth because you have been cut off for the 500th time in 10 minutes
4.) You go from 4 lanes, to 5 lanes, to 7 lanes split and miss your turn all within 30 seconds of drive time
5.) You don't see a police car anywhere because they are not anywhere near crazy enough to attempt pulling any of these wackoes over

We returned home safely and had an awesome visit, hooray!!!!

We are totally exhausted but we had a super visit with family and friends...so all the crazy driving was worth it! We had a torrential downpour leaving OH, a ton of sun through Indiana ( no kidding, I have a sunburn on my left arm from driving!), and a torrential downpour once we got through crazy Chicago traffic and were pulling into the driveway in good old Crystal Lake.

Now...where is my bed!!!!

And so it goes...

Road Trip and Visit Going Well

The family visit is going great!! Long car trip that was rough on the leg but we made it safe and sound to Ohio. We will be back home in a week or so and I will probably have some fun things to blog about then I am sure!

And so it goes...

Road Trip Time

Working on getting affairs in order and things together to make a little road trip to visit family. My hubby's cousin is graduating from University soon, so, most of our family will be in one spot. We are trying to maximize our visit time so this should work out nicely, I hope.

I am a little worried about the long time in the car (9-10 hours drive) and how my leg is going to react. Usually I do most of the driving when we take trips, but, it looks like this time my hubby will have to do the majority of the driving because of my leg injuries. I am hoping with cruise control it won't be as bad as I anticipate.

There were a few sad events in the family too; but, I am hoping that the graduation, birth of a beautiful baby boy, and two more babies on the way will make it a happy and joyous visit. If my leg holds out in the car, I think we should be o.k. Since the accident I am paranoid about people running through stop signs and traffic lights when they are supposed to stop, so goodness knows what a long trip on America's highways will do to me...I hope my sanity remains intact, not just for me, but for the dear hubby and child as well!

And so it goes...

Cell Confusion

O.K. I know I am an alien or something...but...I have not had a cell for about a year. My husband lost his job a few months ago shortly after I was in the car accident in December. We just didn't have the money for $100 a month for 2 phones and such, and the local phone landlines were only about $10 a month, so we said ciao! to the cells.

Now that I finally have transportation again after 5 months with no car (god it takes lawyers and insurance companies forever!) we are thinking about taking a trip to OH to see our family. So, this makes me nervous to travel without a cell, it is a 13 hour drive :( So I think I should at least get a pre-paid one or something. I don't need anything awesome or fancy, something simple for now. Money is beyond tight, it is non-existent right now in our house, so I need to hunt wisely.

The thought of checking online with the 8-billion cell adds makes me cringe! So I am turning to you blog world to see what you think. Does anybody out there know of a really simple, really basic, prepaid cell of some sort that they actually use for travel and only pretty much that? I would rather ask actual people then those just trying to sell me something. I used to have a Virgin prepaid when our son was first born and it was o.k., not sure if they are still good though. I really don't want to spend $100 a month, just a few bucks to keep it going if I have to, so we have it every so many months when we go see family, and to have for job interviews. I am on the hunt for a new position, so I may be traveling to search for a new job in other states or commuting daily 1 hour or so if I get something in Chicago. I basically just want to call family from the road with an ETA, have it for roadside emergency calls to AAA, or if some other emergency would happen to us along the way.

So if anybody has some good ideas I would love your thoughts!

And so it goes...