What books have influenced your life tactics and strategy?

junyabee
junyabee: How did they change you..
Mine were:
Lonely Crowd-Glazer&Riesman
Politics of Experience-R.D.Laing
Black Skins,White Mask-Fanon
Bhagavad Gita-Traditonal text
Futuh el Ghaib-Al Qadir al Jilani
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SmartAsk
SmartAsk: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Augusten Burrough's books
Pablo Neruda's works and Charles Bukowski's

Each of these authors' books changed me by helping me to become more resilient, to become more of a realist, to be a skeptic, and to have more faith in myself than I do in a god.
(Edited by SmartAsk)
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junyabee
junyabee: Carlos Castenada's series of books- Don Juan the Jaqui shaman-the benefits of natural hervs for one's consciousness, plus also the Bhagavad Gita, one of the best primers I've read on ethics
@SmartAsk, I'll be revisiting Victor Frankl and doing a web search on Neruda and Bukowski
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SmartAsk
SmartAsk: Neruda is both light and heavy while Bukowski goes even lower and deeper. The first Frankl novel I read was chosen indirectly by me. I went to a bookstore, I closed my eyes and I picked a book off the shelf and decided that whatever I picked I was going to read. My hand landed on that book and although it was a dark story, there was eternal hope in it.
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junyabee
junyabee: Viktor Frankl--http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/viktor_e_frankl.html
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junyabee
junyabee: RE: Augusten Burrough-I'm lonely. And I'm lonely in some horribly deep way and for a flash of an instant, I can see just how lonely, and how deep this feeling runs. And it scares the shit out of me to be this lonely because it seems catastrophic.”
― Augusten Burroughs, Dry
PROGRAMMED into the mind set that being all-one by ourselves is an existential curse that plays on our minds and is compounded by our physiology which seeks procreative engagment in a field with few and flawed options.. A good hand and an imagination would suffice
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SmartAsk
SmartAsk: I think he is so wise. A lot of his wisdom comes from terror and trauma. He is proof that no one has to be a victim. Here's a quote of his I really like:

"When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves." -Viktor E. Frankl

I think Neruda, Frankl, and Bukowski all tell/told the truth; they are honest about "good" and "bad." I like seeing what is in front of me in a way that helps me be able to analyze, define, and act.

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junyabee
junyabee: Bukowski, the cynical romantic: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_bukowski.html
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SmartAsk
SmartAsk: Re: Burroughs comment. The real existential curse is that no one is able to fill or, much less, define what is missing. Filling that emptiness never happens and it is a paradox of life. None the less, people need people. Just don't look to others to make you whole.
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SmartAsk
SmartAsk: re: Bukowski the cynic. A cynic is a man who thinks. Who could not understand this on a universal level and embrace it too?
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junyabee
junyabee: I'm not disparaging his quotes, just pointing out that he comes from a state of seeing 'Romance' in all its broken effects
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SmartAsk
SmartAsk: Juny: I am not taking any offense at all. No worries! Even if you wrote disparaging comments, I'd at least find them worth a look.
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junyabee
junyabee: I admire Burkowski's quotes, empathetically! I just placed the subjective patina of mine upon it..
He writes as a proponent for the short-comings that exist (which should be corrected??). I see 'romance' as part of the cultural enchantment that tortures psyches in Sisyphean futile efforts of seeking the mythical illusion and images imposed on our senses
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placidaroma
placidaroma: Born for Love: Why Empathy is Essential -- and Endangered, by Bruce Perry (American Psychiatrist) and Maia Szalavitz (Author/Reporter).

The most amazing book I've read to date. Without fail. They use real life situations (which help you relate) and detail the issues they speak of wonderfully. It is Surprisingly easy to read and keeps you drawn in from start to finish. They speak of real life development and developmental issues. They deliver countless information and support what they speak of with concrete research. Excellent read, a definite recommend.

How it has moved me: It inspired me pursue my studies in neuroscience. Haven't started yet, but one day for sure.
(Edited by placidaroma)
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junyabee
junyabee: OK... Bruce Perry presentation-
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junyabee
junyabee: Stories by Maia Szalavitz | Alternet
www.alternet.org/authors/maia-szalavitz
AlterNet
Jump to Navigation. follow AlterNet on twitter · be an AlterNet facebook fan · subscribe to our rss ... Maia Szalavitz is a columnist at The Fix. She is also a health ...
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placidaroma
placidaroma: That video inspired me the first time I had seen it. It's good to see that some people still care enough to spread the word. He has done amazing work.
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Big Bopper
Big Bopper: Thanks guys. I have a few additions to my reading list! I looked up Bruce Perry and started watching a video of one of his presentations: .youtube.com/watch?v=M6kDeBaJi0M
Sounds great so far.
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Big Bopper
Big Bopper: Bruce Perry is a comfortable presenter to listen to. I listened to another guy, Roman Krznaric who spoke about empathy, whose presentation I greatly enjoyed. I like to play You Tube talks so I can be doing chores while listening.

It is relatively easy to improve or increase one's own empathy. Krznaric suggests an easy way and a more advanced way to do this, while helping others to do the same. You could easily initiate conversation with people different than yourself, asking questions like: What were you thinking about at 10 am this morning?, or what was the most surprising thing that happened to you on the weekend?

A more extreme approach could be holding a 'conversational meal' with a group of people, suggesting topics to talk about: what have you learned about the different types of love? or in what ways would you like to be more courageous?

He suggests that the most important skill is to be emotionally open...it takes some courage, but it allows the other to also be more open.
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junyabee
junyabee: I have found that a develop sense of empathy creates a psychic bond with my protagonist. that psychic bond goes beyond just me and my protagonist but places me on a channel of serendipities and synchronicities for that level of intensity developed
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Big Bopper
Big Bopper: Researching holding a Human Libary. Look this up...a very interesting concept that has been done hundreds of times world wide.
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junyabee
junyabee: Shall do
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tallboy61
tallboy61: The Beano . Walter Softie was a constant source of encouragement . Despite Dennis the Menace beating the shit out of him he still appeared every week .
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xHollyxRose
xHollyxRose: Nabokov's Lolita
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junyabee
junyabee: @Tallboy61.. Interesting answer which begs more questions that you may jump the shark on and give pre-emptive answers
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junyabee
junyabee: @xHollyxRose- And the tale of that little girl that impressed you so dear.. In what ways and why did it impress you
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