Sincere if rambling discussion of self-discovery and empowerment.
A Colorado-based woman shares her missives with a “Spirit,” among other musings, in this debut memoir/personal growth book.
Early in this debut, Byrne relates how she spotted a daisy growing out of a boulder while hiking in Colorado. This served as inspiration for what she calls the Wildflower Theory: “Having survived less than optimal childhoods, marriages or just life situations…we have decided to make the very most out of what we have been given, trust in Spirit and ‘know’ that we can be whatever it is we want to be!” Subsequent chapters consist of Byrne’s discussions on such topics as being kind while also practicing an “enlightened selfishness” to embrace one’s self-worth. She sprinkles in autobiographical details along the way, including how she had a physically abusive father, which she says led to her being a people pleaser: “Taking a back seat to everyone, thinking that everyone’s needs were more important than [her] own.” Around the book’s midpoint, Byrne begins to share her “automatic writing” exercises that she now does with Spirit, in which she pens a letter about a personal challenge and then gets a “reply” that better balances her thoughts. For example, asking about the “purpose” of an accident that shattered her knee, she receives the “answer”: “the reason this happened is to get you to slow down and attend to your life both spiritual and physical.” Debut author Byrne brings an infectious tone of enthusiasm and passion to her story, so her book may inspire others to conduct their own self-awareness journeys. Her narrative can be a bit meandering, however, jumping from topic to topic and including asides such as how she doesn’t want her sons to text while driving. Unfortunately, some of the more compelling parts of her story are left underdeveloped, including her childhood, current life, and what she thinks her Spirit entity actually is. Still, she offers a commendable Everywoman’s exploration of personal growth.
Sincere if rambling discussion of self-discovery and empowerment.Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1504326483
Page Count: 104
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.
Lessons about life from those preparing to die.
A longtime hospice chaplain, Egan (Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago, 2004) shares what she has learned through the stories of those nearing death. She notices that for every life, there are shared stories of heartbreak, pain, guilt, fear, and regret. “Every one of us will go through things that destroy our inner compass and pull meaning out from under us,” she writes. “Everyone who does not die young will go through some sort of spiritual crisis.” The author is also straightforward in noting that through her experiences with the brokenness of others, and in trying to assist in that brokenness, she has found healing for herself. Several years ago, during a C-section, Egan suffered a bad reaction to the anesthesia, leading to months of psychotic disorders and years of recovery. The experience left her with tremendous emotional pain and latent feelings of shame, regret, and anger. However, with each patient she helped, the author found herself better understanding her own past. Despite her role as a chaplain, Egan notes that she rarely discussed God or religious subjects with her patients. Mainly, when people could talk at all, they discussed their families, “because that is how we talk about God. That is how we talk about the meaning of our lives.” It is through families, Egan began to realize, that “we find meaning, and this is where our purpose becomes clear.” The author’s anecdotes are often thought-provoking combinations of sublime humor and tragic pathos. She is not afraid to point out times where she made mistakes, even downright failures, in the course of her work. However, the nature of her work means “living in the gray,” where right and wrong answers are often hard to identify.
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59463-481-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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