Walking in Timber Creek Dog Park a couple of days ago, I met some out-of-state young people with a Black Lab who were touring dog parks, the second time that has happened! AS it turned out, the young man was wearing a t-shirt that said "I Love Veggie Burgers" and we got to talking about vegetarianism and veganism, an interesting topic to me, a vegetarian, and friend of other vegetarians and some vegan activists! I mentioned the book that had turned me into a vegetarian, Diet For A Small Planet, Frances Moore Lappe.
The young man was interested and looked it up on his phone. When I got home, I looked it up too and bought another copy from amazon.com.
It made me think of other books that changed my MIND! Not favorite novels, that's a whole different list, but books that made big changes in the way I THINK. And BE HERE NOW, by Richard Alpert (aka Baba Ram Dass certainly factors in.
Almost once a day, when I find myself caught in some unpleasant thinking loop, an anxiety, an irritation, impatience, worries about the future, I say, outlaid, in an advertiser voice BE HERE NOW! and it snaps me out of it and brings me back to my, fortunately, blissful present.
I live in a pleasant, cosy little bungalow, with a nice dog, some cats, a gorgeous backyard, a safe and friendly small town, and an adequate income thanks to my pre-retirement career as a teacher. I have room for comparison. I was born in South Philadelphia and we lived in a brick row home under the stacks of the beer brewer Publickers (Oh the stench) and for the first decade or two after my father got out of the navy and went to work as an Ironworker, things were tight. Neither of my parents had been able to finish high school thanks to the depression, and both had been orphaned.
My father's father was killed by a hit and run driver and his mother really had to be resourceful to support her three sons and her niece. My mother had been orphaned as a small child with her two sisters.
The gifts that nature gave me, a good intelligence, a good character, a love of reading, made it possible for me to continually improve my life from high school, to work, to college, to teaching. And books like Be Here Now, helped me to learn to direct my thinking in positive and helpful ways rather than to be tossed around by unrestrained emotion or unexamined thoughts.
Diet for a Small Planet, taught me to consider my healthy and the connection between the personal choices we make in food and the impact on our environment and the living organism that is Planet Earth.
So I wanted to honor these two books that shaped my life and perhaps inspire someone else to get a copy and find the benefit!
Happy Trails, whether they are in the woods or in the mind!
Jo Ann
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