A few months ago I thought of two books that had a huge influence on me when I was younger. So I decided to check the internet to see if I could find them. I didn’t have any luck with the first one, The Old Fellow, a book about the Chinese philosopher Laozi. I read it in high school and it was one of the books that caused me to respect learning and experience. I have never wanted to be younger than I am… it wouldn’t be worth it because I would have to give up too much. That’s the first part of my mantra:
Stay curious and open to life. No matter what happens, keep learning and growing.
The second book was The Importance of Being Imperfect. And I did find and buy a copy of it:
I found that one in the Ithaca, NY library over 50 years ago and it was the idea behind Cheerful Monk. (The original subtitle for this blog was “Happiness as a spiritual practice.” )
It tickles me that when I reread that part of Clarke’s book I found that I had remembered it wrong. The ancient Egyptians believed it was a hippopotamus, not a crocodile. Fortunately I called the story apocryphal (fictitious) so I can keep my crocodile image. I do like it.
I can give Clarke credit for the second part of my mantra,
Find what you love and find a way to share it with others.
Have any books had a powerful influence on your life?
November 18, 2024
I have been reading since I could hold a book, and since books were beyond my mothers purse strings, the library was our go to place. I don’t remember any one book influencing my life, but in general all the books did. I found my happy place over and over reading books. I waited for the book mobile to come once a month, mother and I could each check out 7 books, which meant I read and reread by 7 during the month we waited. thanks for the memory jog. I loved that book mobile and the huge library in
Savannah GA when we could get there in late years. Books still transport me to other places
The Bible.
God bless.
Books were always a big part of my life growing up but I can’t really recall any that had a powerful influence.