Real love for ourselves, by definition includes every aspect of our lives – the good, the bad, the difficult, the challenging past. the uncertain future as well as all of the shameful, upsetting experiences and encounters that we’d just as soon as forget.
This doesn’t mean that we have to celebrate everything that’s happened to us or write thank you notes to people who have hurt us. But, like it or not, the emotional residue of our experiences is part of who we are.
One of the most erudite, spiritually nourishing and comprehensive books on the topic of love – of self, others and the world. Encompassing romantic and platonic love, familial love, friendship and more, by one of the world’s foremost experts on Loving Kindness Meditation. Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Genre: Non-Fiction, Spirituality, Psychology, Buddhism, Self-Help Publisher: Flatiron books Review in one word: HelpfulContinue reading “Book Review: Real Love – The Art of Mindful Connection by Sharon Salzberg”
Publisher: Penguin Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 This is a comprehensive guide to trauma. Unlike other guides, it places emphasis on the physical body and how past buried traumas are inextricably connected to the body, or in other words: ‘The Body Keeps the Score’. Although this book is more of a clinical guide for psychologists,Continue reading “Book Review: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk”
‘Standing Firm’ in the sense of this book means to counter the incessant drive towards more, more, more of everything. It’s a call to action to resist and stand firm against ‘improvement culture’, not just self-improvement and personal development, but also the constant acceleration and growth in our economic systems, and the overuse and destructionContinue reading “Book Review: Standing Firm: Resisting The Self Improvement Craze by Svend Brinkmann”
Publisher: Penguin Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology Rating: 🌟 This book about introversion was profoundly disappointing. After having recently read ‘The Highly Sensitive Person;’ by Elaine Aron and all of the immense insights this book contained, I felt that The Introvert’s Way was lacking in psychological insights and research and was instead focused on flimsy personal anecdotesContinue reading “Book Review: The Introvert’s Way: Living a Quiet Life in a Noisy World by Sophia Dembling”
Or to put it more bluntly and less delicately – Fuck your feelings! At least that’s the general idea that I extracted from this quote by Danish philosopher and psychologist Svend Brinkmann. “There is nothing about feelings in themselves that means we must trust them – let alone express them. In an ever-changing cultural situation,Continue reading “Comforting Thought: The pursuit of our ‘true feelings’ infantilises us”
It is without a doubt better to be an inauthentic Mother Theresa than to be an authentic Anders Breivik. Indeed, being yourself has no intrinsic value whatsoever. “On the other hand, what does have intrinsic value is fulfilling your obligations to the people around you, with whom you are connected (i.e. doing your duty). WhetherContinue reading “Comforting Thought: ‘Being yourself’ has no intrinsic value whatsoever”
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