Something to Live For
I’ve come to Minnesota for the weekend to work with Richard Leider on our next book, currently titled Something to Live For: Leaving a Footprint That Matters.
We’re trying to discover exactly what it is we’re writing about. Both of us want to craft a book that is powerful, meaningful, and significant (duh!) but I think we’re both (well, I am, anyway) still engaged in the struggle to figure out exactly what that entails.
Two themes I know we both want to course through the book are authenticity and wholeheartedness.
Authenticity is the mandate to really be and express the person you are through your actions and impact upon others. My example of this is that I think that, as an instructor, the most important thing my students will take from my classes is the experience of who I am rather than what I teach. They will remember this weird guy who rode his bike to school most days much longer than they will Euthyphro’s answer to the question “what is piety?” in Plato’s dialogue.
Wholeheartedness is the willingness to be fully present in all that you do, especially when connecting with your fellow human beings. It is expressed through compassion—for others, for oneself, and for the planet. When we approach life wholeheartedly, we engage fully in the present experience. We understand and appreciate rather than hang back and judge.
My biggest challenge in trying to get started on the writing of this book is that I don’t want to be prescriptive—which is tricky if you’re trying to advise people. How do we write a self-help book whose thesis, in part, that readers don’t really need our help?
I want the book to help readers build a bridge from their lived experience to the afterlife, from the before to the beyond. It will show us all how to merge into the Oneness by enriching the lives of those remaining after we’re gone.
No biggee, right?
We’re trying to discover exactly what it is we’re writing about. Both of us want to craft a book that is powerful, meaningful, and significant (duh!) but I think we’re both (well, I am, anyway) still engaged in the struggle to figure out exactly what that entails.
Two themes I know we both want to course through the book are authenticity and wholeheartedness.
Authenticity is the mandate to really be and express the person you are through your actions and impact upon others. My example of this is that I think that, as an instructor, the most important thing my students will take from my classes is the experience of who I am rather than what I teach. They will remember this weird guy who rode his bike to school most days much longer than they will Euthyphro’s answer to the question “what is piety?” in Plato’s dialogue.
Wholeheartedness is the willingness to be fully present in all that you do, especially when connecting with your fellow human beings. It is expressed through compassion—for others, for oneself, and for the planet. When we approach life wholeheartedly, we engage fully in the present experience. We understand and appreciate rather than hang back and judge.
My biggest challenge in trying to get started on the writing of this book is that I don’t want to be prescriptive—which is tricky if you’re trying to advise people. How do we write a self-help book whose thesis, in part, that readers don’t really need our help?
I want the book to help readers build a bridge from their lived experience to the afterlife, from the before to the beyond. It will show us all how to merge into the Oneness by enriching the lives of those remaining after we’re gone.
No biggee, right?
posted by Professor Dave at 8:41 PM
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