As I headed into Summer holidays, here in Australia, I had a swag of books that I hoped to digest.
Now that we are coming to the end of the first week of 2019, and I start to get drawn into creative projects and classes .. I realize that I have hardly touched the pile of books that sit at my bedside. I have decided to remove the ‘pile’ and leave two books on which to focus over the next few weeks. This morning, a sunny and quiet Sunday morning, I took my coffee to my
The Five Invitations by Frank Ostaseski – a book that I need to marinate in!
Ever opened a book and gasped at the DEPTH? I can’t seem to get through even a sentence without wanting to highlight something, make a note, pause and reflect. I read the first two chapters a few weeks ago and some of the learnings have been reverberating and digesting since. I knew I wanted to get back into the magic .. but there is a time and a place, right? This morning felt like I was ready for another deep dive.
“Simply put, the nature of life itself is holy”
The First Invitation is Don’t Wait and there are detailed conversations about this concept provided cross four chapters; a beautiful weaving of real life stories and ancient wisdoms to guide us into a better appreciation and understanding of essentially .. how an awareness of death can be an invaluable companion to living a good life. And firstly, we should’nt wait. Here are a few of the (too many) highlighted words that spoke to me in my reading this morning:
Don’t Wait: “a pathway to fulfillment and an antidote to regret”
Possibility: “when we embrace impermanence, a certain grace enters our lives“.
Disappearing: a quote from Suzuki Roshi “to live .. means to die as a small being moment after moment“
Hope: “The present moment includes all time; it is all-inclusive now. The present moment could best be described as the flow of life“
Heart of the Matter: “all forgiveness is self-forgiveness. It is a remarkable form of self-acceptance that allows us to release unbelievable pain.”
My take: this book is a keeper. It’s wisdom. It’s precious and sacred. This book is one that I am going to have to dip in .. process and reflect. I don’t want to rush through it, I want to linger and savor .. and so, I love that I can share this Book Trailer with you and you can hear and see the beauty of this book yourself.
This book is ultimately about the gift of life and how we might embrace a full, loving, kind and present life .. to live more, and more fully! If you like, you can purchase through my Recommending Reading Link here: Purchase Link: Amazon Australia