Books & Essays for Life (Non-Fiction)

[Cerez]

Essays:

On societal structure and social relations:
'An Ideal of Service to Our Fellow Man' by Albert Einstein

On the human ego and genuine self-development:
'Circle With No Circumference' (and 'It's Just a Name') from the 'Tao of Jeet Kune Do' by Bruce Lee

Books:

On the inherent connection between humankind and nature (the natural balance):
'The Philosophy of Freedom' a.k.a. 'Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path' by Rudolf Steiner

On body, mind, and health (and chronic illness):
'When the Body Says No' by Gabor Maté

On the nature of self-control and addiction:
'In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts' by Gabor Maté

On the history of autism research, and Autistic history (including the start of the neurodiversity movement):
'NeuroTribes' by Steve Silberman

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[Cerez]

Pieter, can we please pin this to the top of this forum? It's for you guys, life wisdom (and knowledge/insight to turn to for help in living and finding the balance) when I am gone. Thanks. (Love you guys. )

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Thanks for that my friend.

Going to miss you when you are gone, still at least we met; and it is a pleasure.
Won't say it was, because this would imply that it isn't now, or in the future; "is" works much better.

 

[Cerez]

Likewise, Teddy.

This is an easy dot-point overview and notes of the contents of Gabor Maté's 'When the Body Says No', shared by the author:

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Pieter, can we please pin this to the top of this forum?

Done.
And thank you.

Though I'm having a hard time knowing what to do with all the wisdom (and supposed wisdom) out there.
Feel like my personal development has come to quite a standstill lately.
Quite a bit of numbness these days instead.
Very annoying.

Hope one day it will pass...

 

[Cerez]

Though I'm having a hard time knowing what to do with all the wisdom (and supposed wisdom) out there.
Feel like my personal development has come to quite a standstill lately.
Quite a bit of numbness these days instead.
Very annoying.

Hope one day it will pass...

It will. You just need to find the balance within yourself, the intuitive balance with nature. Distinguishing what's human fiction and what's rooted in reality (nature itself) will become a lot clearer then.

Worth noting that we are usually in this state -- confused about ourselves and our reality, feeling numb -- when we are being gaslighted by the people around us in our daily lives: given conflicting information that does not serve to address our needs and give us proper explanations, but rather to practically delude us, to delay/obstruct finding our place in the world.

Emotionally abusive people, most often with antisocial personality disorder, will often use this (gaslighting) as a tactic to control us, to invalidate our experiences/beliefs, to erode our self-confidence, and to effectively keep us in their grasp -- and it can be very hard to make sense of it, especially if you deep-down believe that all people are good by nature. I know this from personal experience.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you want to objectively discuss it further, whether in a different topic here or in PM.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Worth noting that we are usually in this state -- confused about ourselves and our reality, feeling numb -- when we are being gaslighted by the people around us in our daily lives: given conflicting information that does not serve to address our needs and give us proper explanations, but rather to practically delude us, to delay/obstruct finding our place in the world.

I find it very difficult to believe I'm still being actively gaslighted these days.
Rather, there's not much of anything at all.
But I'm pretty sure gaslighting HAS happened.
And it had its effect.