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Posts Tagged ‘Reading’
 For a dyslexic, I have an extraordinary relationship with reading. Almost all of it is non-fiction. When I say “reading,” I fudge a bit. I have a half hour commute each way from home to my downtown office and I usually drive for an hour, one way, to visit my father each weekend. And, I take a one hour plus walk 3-4 times each week.
Putting all that together, I usually have an unabridged recorded book going in my car, which generally is history, usually longer volumes. You know, the 400 page types. I have another audio book in an MP3 player during my walks which generally is shorter and most likely on subjects of philosophy or psychology. I also have 2-3 “real” books going at once for evenings, weekends and travel time. I pick one or another up according to mood.
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 A few months’ back, my wife, Nancy handed me a New York Times book review of Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s book Crow Planet, Essential Wisdom From the Urban Wilderness, and suggested that it might merit closer examination. For the past year, Nancy and I have been gathering material for a book that I proposed we write together on what our pets teach us about how to live. The book is designed to be a volume in the #THINKaha! series, consisting of 140 perspectives of tweet length, each no more than 140 characters or spaces.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter if we ever write this book. The process by which we approach it is its own reward. We share a mutual curiosity, gathering our own resources and research to share, exploring together the implications of what we have learned and generally educating ourselves on the ways that we are so connected to our animal brethren. If a book ultimately is written, great. Otherwise, this journey with Nancy is its own fulfillment.
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 I had quickly become a fan of Seth Godin upon reading his book, Tribes. From Tribes, I went back to read some of his earlier works which, like Tribes, offered exciting new perspectives on successfully making your way in a challenging business environment. I read Purple Cow, The Dip then found this year’s publication of Linchpin – Are you Dispensable? (Portfolio, 2010). Seth is a very influential business blogger. He doesn’t claim every idea is his own. Rather, he is one of those great minds who hears things that make sense, weaves them together into a cohesive fabric, writes in an accessible manner and makes his collected wisdom available to the reading public.Â
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 Every year, on the anniversary of my becoming a hospice volunteer with the Zen Hospice Project at Laguna Hondas Hospital, I receive a certificate marking the date. This morning, I opened an envelope from our selfless coordinator, Eric Poche and found my latest, recognizing six years of commitment to our hospice residents and a lovely handwritten note from Eric. The certificate contained six simple lines from the poet Tagore which read:
I slept and dreamt
that life was joy.
I awoke and saw
that life was service.
I acted and, behold,
service was joy.
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One of you recently wrote me to comment that my recommended reading list was so extensive, that you didn’t know where to begin with it. Your life is very busy, and you didn’t have time to read every title. While many of the subject areas I list are intriguing and worthy of exploration, how are you to choose amongst the subject areas and books within each subject area an appropriate “starter” volume?Â
I appreciated the question, and the honesty. It revealed to me something about myself which I already knew, but the consequences of which I did not fully understand. While I’ve always considered myself an “intellectual,” this comment reminded me that I am still a “surfer.”
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For a dyslexic, I have an extraordinary relationship with reading. Almost all of it is non-fiction. When I say “reading,” I fudge a bit. I have a half hour commute each way from home to my downtown office and I usually drive for an hour, one way, to visit my father each weekend. And, I take a one hour plus walk 3-4 times each week.
