This frank account by a longtime Zen student looks back over a journey that began in Berkeley in the heady sixties when the author experimented with psychedelics and started to study with Suzuki Roshi, who encouraged his students to find a genuine way of practicing Zen.
Liza begins to doubt her feelings for Annie after someone finds out about their relationship, and realizes, after starting college, that her denial of love for Annie was a mistake. Reprint.
** A New York Times Bestseller ** NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: Time • The New Yorker • NPR • GQ • Elle • Vulture • Fortune • Boing Boing • The Irish Times • The New York Public Library • The Brooklyn Public Library "A complex, smart and ambitious book that at first reads like a self-help manual, then blossoms into a wide-ranging political manifesto."—Jonah Engel Bromwich, The New York Times Book Review One of President Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of 2019" Porchlight's Personal Development & Human Behavior Book of the Year In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, artist and critic Jenny Odell shows us how we can still win back our lives. Odell sees our attention as the most precious—and overdrawn—resource we have. And we must actively and continuously choose how we use it. We might not spend it on things that capitalism has deemed important … but once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind’s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress. Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book will change how you see your place in our world.
Soothing stories to help you fall and stay asleep, based on the popular podcast Busy minds need a place to rest. Whether you find yourself struggling to sleep, awake in the middle of the night, or even just anxious as you move through the day, in Nothing Much Happens, Kathryn Nicolai offers a healthy way to ease the mind before bed: through the timeless appeal of classic bedtime stories. Already beloved by millions of podcast listeners, the stories in Nothing Much Happens explore and expose small sweet moments of joy and relaxation: Sneaking lilacs from an abandoned farm in the spring. Watching fireflies from the deck in the summer. Visiting the local cider mill in the autumn. Watching the tree lighting in the park with friends in the winter. You'll also find sixteen new stories never before featured on the podcast, along with whimsical illustrations, recipes, and meditations. Using her decades of experience as a meditation and yoga teacher, Kathryn Nicolai creates a world for you to slip into, one rich in sensory experience that quietly teaches mindfulness and self-compassion, soothes frayed nerves, and builds solid habits for nurturing sleep. A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE
The modern materialist approach to life has conspicuously failed to explain such central mind-related features of our world as consciousness, intentionality, meaning, and value. This failure to account for something so integral to nature as mind, argues philosopher Thomas Nagel, is a major problem, threatening to unravel the entire naturalistic world picture, extending to biology, evolutionary theory, and cosmology. Since minds are features of biological systems that have developed through evolution, the standard materialist version of evolutionary biology is fundamentally incomplete. And the cosmological history that led to the origin of life and the coming into existence of the conditions for evolution cannot be a merely materialist history, either. An adequate conception of nature would have to explain the appearance in the universe of materially irreducible conscious minds, as such. Nagel's skepticism is not based on religious belief or on a belief in any definite alternative. In Mind and Cosmos, he does suggest that if the materialist account is wrong, then principles of a different kind may also be at work in the history of nature, principles of the growth of order that are in their logical form teleological rather than mechanistic. In spite of the great achievements of the physical sciences, reductive materialism is a world view ripe for displacement. Nagel shows that to recognize its limits is the first step in looking for alternatives, or at least in being open to their possibility.
Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
Easy on the eyes. Hot on the lips. But can her heart handle the risk he presents? Since Georgie Quinn’s mother died after a brief illness, the highlight of her life has become “jogger stalking” every morning with her roommates Tess and Cat. Stuck running the senior center her mother founded in Newport, RI, until a replacement director is found, Georgie dreams of returning to her glamorous life in Atlanta. As that life begins to unravel, she discovers a whole new one in Newport where the jogger turns out to be sexy detective and tree hugger Nathan Caldwell. Determined to get her mind off her many problems—including a possible threat to her own health—Georgie indulges in what she intends to be a no-holds-barred one-night stand with Nathan. Unfortunately, Nathan has other ideas and sets out to have a relationship with her. Tess, on the run from an abusive husband, and Cat, who raised her younger brother and sister, hook up with Nathan’s brothers, Ben, an injured Iraqi war veteran, and Ian, a single-father and talented musician. Add a zany cast of seniors who seem determined to drive Georgie slowly mad with their never-ending needs and comparisons to her sainted mother, and you’ve got the ingredients for a fast-paced, often comical, emotional journey that leads Georgie straight to the home of her heart. "It's a rare treat that you get three gorgeous romances in one story but Marie Force has achieved that with Georgia On My Mind. Ms. Force has seamlessly woven these stories into one magical novel. Each couple is drastically different with their own issues and smoking hot chemistry. This story has a bit of suspense, plenty of humor and lots of romance. Georgia On My Mind is a keeper!" —Joyfully Reviewed. “Georgia On My Mind” meets real life issues head-on. It will easily touch your heart with a variety of emotions. If you love a book, in spite of any flaws it may suffer, it’s a keeper. This one meets that test. You’ll laugh and you’ll cry. Most importantly, I’m betting you’ll have a satisfied smile on your face when you reach the end." —Romance at Random gives Georgia on My Mind an "A." Marie Force does it again! She creates an emotional, sexy, wonderful story that draws the readers in. She has a way of creating characters that make the reader fall in love with them instantly. Add in plenty of conflict, drama, and heartache, and you've got a beautiful contemporary love story. —Storm Goddess Book Reviews on Georgia on My Mind.
A practical and empowering approach to the age-old quest to let go of the thoughts and feelings that block happiness, impede change, and hinder self-acceptance Anyone who has dipped a toe into any of the world's spiritual traditions knows that letting go and letting be are key. But how? In this fresh, frank, and powerful guide, Peter Russell allows readers to see that the things we get hung up on are generally not tangible problems in the present, but are instead thoughts, feelings, interpretations, beliefs, or expectations we have about them. These are not actual things; they exist only in our minds. And we can strip these "no-things" of their power and let them go by making a simple change of mind. Russell boils this letting go down to remarkably easy methods of accepting, acknowledging, recognizing, and even befriending what we tend to run from. This paradoxical practice generates peace of mind, fresh perspectives, and wisdom in action. In turbulent times like ours, this is a true power, one available to us all.
"The best parts of you are hidden where you're most afraid to look." --Michael Benner, Fearless Intelligence"Fear is a doorway to understanding yourself better. The secret is to plumb the depth and breadth of your anxiety and confusion in relaxed levels of expanded awareness. Becoming more self-aware of your anxious feelings reveals the personal wisdom hidden within heartache and upset. "As we understand our self better, we become less alienated and more content -- calmer, happier, and more self-confident. Fewer random thoughts demand our attention. This or that occurs as this and that, and behavior becomes less reflexive -- more appropriate, even-tempered and well reasoned. Soon, defensiveness yields to acceptance, competition surrenders to cooperation -- lines fade, borders dissolve, and your perspective expands to include the 'Wholeness' of life."
Suzy Toronto puts an end to thinking that being a certain age means you have to be, act, or look a certain way. You can live a life worth loving regardless of the number of candles on your birthday cake. In this whimsical and wacky book, Suzy and her colorful characters show us that while growing older is mandatory, growing up isn't. You'll be inspired to let loose, embrace your inner child, love every wrinkle and grey hair, and always remain young at heart!