Contemplify Nonrequired Reading List Email for September 30, 2017
Contemplify Nonrequired Reading List Email for September 30, 2017
The September NonRequired Reading List
Contemplative friends,
September rung in my 37th spin around the sun. The older I get, the more remarkable and precious this life seems to be. Is that true for all of you too? I reckon it may be so. The birthday marker has turned into an opportunity of reflection. In my twenties I worked at a small college in Canada, and on my birthday that year one of the professors popped into my office to offer her well-wishes and introduce me to what has become my a treasured birthday ritual: The Birthday Questions. She asked me two simple questions; what have you learned this year? What do you hope to learn next year?
These are easy enough inquiries, but they have the potential to yield surprising responses. My initial reply was, let me think about it. To which she said, no. That is the magic of these questions: not waiting for clarity, but mining the diamonds and devils of the previous year in the moment. Then dusting yourself off and stammering through the half-formed dreams and intentions sitting on the tip of your tongue that you weren’t quite ready to share. I don’t recall exactly how I responded that day, but I can still feel my responses. I’ve stolen the ritual not just for myself, but become the gadfly who asks the birthday questions of my friends to a mix of delight and chagrin. The ritual has become part of the framework of my examined life (I’m hoping to share my answers in a future podcast episode). Taking stock of each year in this little ritual I find truth in the words of hope, regret, vulnerability and gratitude that spill out of my mouth. May a loved one have the gentle audacity to ask you to mark the day by looking backward and then forward on this next trip around the sun. Until that birthday comes, here are the NonRequired Readings for September to call a moment of pause for reflecting on where you’ve been and where you might be headed.
Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard (Get it at the Public Library or Amazon)
There seems to be no middle ground with Knausgaard, you either think he is a neo-Proustian Norwegian genius or a self-indulgent asshole with nothing to say. Be forewarned, Karl Ove Knausgaard is one my favorite authors. He wrote the remarkable 3600 page, 6 volume My Struggle book series where he retraces particular seasons of his life with such immense detail that a hundred pages may be dedicated to the description of one afternoon. It holds the bandwidth of the human experience; innocence of youthful shenanigans, childhood trauma, dark passages of death and grief, the struggles of a self-doubting writer, and the boorish adult conversation at childrens' birthday parties. Knausgaard’s latest offering is a departure from the full-on examination of his own life. Autumn is the first of a 4-part series that he wrote for his daughter while she was still in the womb. With the intention to show his daughter what life was like before she was born, Knausgaard writes essays about commonplace objects and experiences; doorknobs, plastic bags, vomit, loneliness, and silence among others.
Here is a sampling from his essay, ‘Experience’ (and I should say, Knausgaard is not afraid of a run-on sentence):
I read Safranski’s biography of Heidegger in the evenings, I understand nothing of his philosophy, but I understand him, in the sense that what makes up his life doesn’t seem foreign and complicated but fathomable and meaningful. And in the mornings, when the three children all have to get up, put on some clothes, maybe shower, eat something, all of them in different moods and at different stages, with different problems and joys, getting it all to run smoothly, making it all work, demands a kind of knowledge that isn’t written down anywhere, which it isn’t possible to acquire by reading or studying but which all parents possess, perhaps without appreciating it, precisely because it is the opposite of ambition and isn’t concentrated or restricted, nor is it oriented towards something to come, a future triumph, and therefore it is nearly invisible. This is how experience works, it settles around the self like a sediment, and the self, as the possibilities open to it increase in number, becomes more and more difficult to nail down: the wisest person knows that ‘I’ is nothing in itself. (p. 132 - 3)
For me, Knausgaards spotlights how meaningfulness is married to the mundane. Since his global popularity skyrocketed after the My Struggle series, Knausgaard has continued to seek out quiet corners for reflection with a much kinder posture towards himself and the mystery that shadows each of our lives from utero to the end of days.
Race and the Cosmos: An Invitation to View the World Differently by Barbara A. Holmes (Get it at the Public Library or Amazon)
Barbara Holmes’ Race and the Cosmos is by far one of the most important books I have ever read. Holmes adds insight into how cosmology has the potential to shift the conversation on race (and ultimately any system of domination). As a rhetorician she employs the power of words to reframe our societal constructs within a cosmic and quantum perspective, with practical implications on personal and communal levels. Barbara Holmes addresses the current poverty of a believable cosmology and its hostile impact on humanity. I emerged empowered to participate in a new way of seeing and being in relationships (human/divine, human/universe, human/human and human/systems) by embracing sound cosmology. If this all sounds too heady or sciencey (pretty sure that’s not a word), know that Holmes weaves in her own poetic voice with powerful storytelling that carries this message with a genuine heart and embodied soul. A brief passage that shines with the hope this work offers.
From the intersection of theology, cosmology, physics, and culture emerges a view of human life that is not divided neatly along categories of race, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation. Instead, human life on quantum and cosmic levels evinces a oneness that is not dependent on religious hope or social plan. It is an intrinsic element of the universe that is both staggering and healing in its human/divine scope. (p.11)
If you are debating taking a risk on tracking down any one of these books recommended this month, this is the one you should locate. Barbara Holmes graced Contemplify with her presence last year, here is the link to our conversation (one of my favorites).
The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth by Chris Heuertz (Get it at the Public Library or Amazon)
What comes to mind when you hear the word, ‘Enneagram’? Perhaps 'personality system' or 'spiritual self-actualization' or maybe even 'oddball New Age woo-woo garbage'? I can relate to all three responses. The Enneagram has been taught and sold in enough packages to make me lose interest in the system altogether and stick to reading old Marmaduke comics. I thought I had read enough Enneagram books. Then this past summer I ran into Chris Heuertz. He explained to me the premise of his contribution to the Enneagram field. I was intrigued to see the direction he was taking with it. Chris’ warm heart and history of global activism steadied my ground to any impulsive finger-shaking at the Enneagram. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone curious about the Enneagram, how it can impact your own sense of self, and how each number pairs with contemplative practices. Heuertz takes the Enneagram beyond the rutted path or fanciful flights, but grounds it in the reality of experience and presence. For example:
The Enneagram forces us to wake up out of our illusion-of-self and break free from the shackles of our personality. Once we awaken, we can no longer continue to live in the dreamlike states of the deceptions that we have convinced ourselves are more real and more dramatic than the best of who we can become when freed from the prisons of our Fixations and Passions. (p.167)
Heuertz teaches on the limitations of overidentification to personality, and the freedom that lies when see the foolish attempts to cultivate personality instead of fidelity to our essential core. You can hear more about this in my conversation with Chris on his book. Thanks to Heuertz’ book, I likely won’t read another Enneagram book for a looong time. I am grateful to have read this one and it will be the first one I mention whenever anyone asks me about the Enneagram.
Contemplify Update
Contemplify is now (mostly) leaving social media. As the adage of old states, energy flows where attention goes. Contemplify’s Twitter account is now fast asleep, Instagram and Facebook will be mostly dormant and awakened from time to time when new episodes go out. For my own tastes, there are too many fascinating books and people to meet for social media to occupy my attention.
The three most recent episodes of Contemplify…
Episode 039: Blueprint for an Authentic Life with Jeff Johnson (180 South, Bend to Baja)
Episode 038: The Enneagram as a Tool for Excavating Your Essence with Chris Heuertz (Author of The Sacred Enneagram)
Episode 037: Exploring the Silence and Laughter of Eternity with Carl McColman
(Available at iTunes, Stitcher, Podbean, Overcast, Google Play or Contemplify.com)
Thank you for your eyes and ears around the Contempify basecamp! Whether you are breaking the binding of the NonRequired Recommended books, listening to the podcast conversations with a drink in hand, or sending me those thoughtful emails about how the Contemplify is helping you kindle your examined life; you all keep this fire at camp a little warmer.
Listen well + read often,
Paul
P.S. Did you see this contemplative and inspiring short video about Jim Carrey (yes, that Jim Carrey) and his painting?