Search results for ""author mark matousek""

"This is a beautiful book, full of ideas that could help restore America’s genius for freedom and promise.” — Thomas Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Care of the Soul A lifelong Emerson lover, teacher, and spiritual seeker reveals how American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson’s twelve essential teachings hold the answer to living an authentic and fulfilling life, one that is in harmony with our souls.In this wise, illuminating book, award-winning author Mark Matousek reveals how Emerson’s timeless wisdom can help us with the problems we’re facing today. America’s ‘original Stoic’ confronted many of the issues before us, from polarization to fake news, from crooked politicians and rampant materialism, to the scourge of racism.Matousek explains that Emerson’s path of self-reliance can radically improve your quality of life. The mentor and friend of Henry David Thoreau, Emerson (aka the Oracle of Concord) was America’s first self-help author, and his nation’s conscience for half a century. Like the Stoics before him, he emphasized self-knowledge and mindfulness as paths to happiness; also, self-reliance, cooperation, non-conformity, originality, adaptability, and receptiveness.As Americans are once again discovering the power of Stoicism, Matousek shows why Emerson’s vision is precisely the medicine we need today. The principles of Waldo’s philosophy are universal and require no spiritual faith to put into practice. Each person creates her own reality Obstacles are teachers in disguise Your character is your destiny Wonder and awe are the keys to the kingdom Nonconformity is the greatest virtue Nature is the doorway to God Life without self-knowledge is not worth living Emerson encourages us to throw-off conventions and platitudes, explore ourselves in depth, tell the truth about what we find there, and awaken to our greatest potential.

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Writing to Awaken is an inspirational investigation of the self through expressive writing, guiding you along the path of awakening through radical truth-telling and self-inquiry. With targeted and revelatory questions, you'll be prompted to explore your own personal narrative-to write honestly about your deepest wounds, greatest challenges, hidden gifts, yearnings, and opportunities for growth-in order to discover a deeply authentic understanding of yourself and move toward a more liberated, truthful life.We each have our own story, a personal myth constructed from the content life presents us: we connect dots to shape the narrative, devise plotlines from circumstance, change characters, fashion conflicts, and adjust structure, settings, and themes as our lives unfold. But so often, over time, we come to believe that we are our story, identifying so strongly with the tales we've told ourselves and others that we cling to them for our very existence-even when they don't quite fit. The realization that there's a discrepancy between the narrative you've crafted and your authentic self can be disconcerting at first, but the exploration of that gap is a doorway to personal freedom, and this book will lead you through it.The writing exercises in this guide, one for nearly every week of the year, ask you to tell the whole truth about your experience. In doing so, you'll come to realize that once you engage in this radical truth-telling, expressing yourself with complete honesty, your story changes; and when your story changes, your life is transformed. Rather than sticking with your illusive and tricky "Story of Me," you'll be prompted to go even deeper, piercing your personal myth and illuminating aspects of psyche and spirit that give way to profound moments of understanding and personal healing.This is not a how-to book for writers; it's an invitation on a journey of self-discovery-a guide to facing yourself without flinching, accepting yourself as you are, surrendering to what is, and daring to question and transform what isn't true. With Writing to Awaken, you'll learn how to break free from the trance of mistaken identity and discover your essential, authentic self.

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