Judith Cannon, PhD, LMFT

Healing, Growth, Creativity Enriching

Our Lives, Our Relationships, Our World

Recommended Reading on

Authentic Living

 

Your Life as Art by Robert Fritz, a composer and an internationally know business consultant. Fritz has experienced and studied the creative process all of his life. In this book, he explains how to best use all that is known about the creative process to create your best life. He says that in this book,

You will learn how to think about what you want to create. You will learn how to understand your starting point, and how to create energy and momentum to use in the journey. You will learn how to learn—from your mistakes and successes, from your experiences and the experiences of others. You will learn how to bring more of your life-spirit into your life.

And he is right. You will learn all this and more. You will be challenges and inspired. I highly recommend this book.

 

How to Want What You Have: Discovering the Magic and Grandeur of Ordinary Existence by Timothy Miller, Ph.D. The book is hard to find, but I got a good used copy through Amazon. I hope to write a full book review after the first of the year, but will give you an appetizer now. Miller describes how our built-in desire for More drives so much of our lives. He teaches about living with compassion, attention and gratitude and even gives a cognitive behavioral approach to developing these practices. The book has blessed me and kept me peaceful and grounded through all the changes I am experiencing. If it sounds interesting and hope you find and enjoy it.

 

How Then Shall We Live: Four Simple Questions that Reveal the Beauty and Meaning of Our Lives by Wayne Muller. According to Muller, these questions shape our lives: Who am I? What do I love? How shall I live, knowing I will die? What is my gift to the family of earth? He says, “Our life is not a problem to be solved, it is a gift to be opened.” He guides us in an exploration that can indeed help each of us open the gift of our life.

 

A Sabbath Life: A Woman’s Search for Wholeness by Kathleen Hirsch

Many of us speak of slowing down and “smelling the roses” but continue to go faster and faster, spending our precious time in ways that do not reflect our deep values. In Sabbath Life, Kathleen Hirsch describes her slowing down and journeying toward wholeness, beauty and peace. Her journey includes a return to her life work with a new focus and greater joy. Reading this book brought some pain as I realized my longing for more quiet time and more time in the beauty of the natural world. Reading the book also brought inspiration and encouragement as I continue on my journey. If you struggle with issues of balancing work, family and self, if you want to find new rhythms of work and rest, if you are hungry to include beauty in your life, this book may be for you.

Recommended Reading on Authentic Living