Greetings,
As my free time increases with various life changes, along with the fact that I once again live in a stationary place (not on wheels) and is actually owned by me, I’ve decided to continuously improve myself and aid various life goals through reading material, particularly material from people in the present and past that I admire. Reading books also meets a goal of keeping me focused, staying away from display screens, and keeping me out of too much furry fandom drama, the latter of which has been destructively life-consuming for me in the past.
To this end I have set out several goals, or really just a few important categories, which I then fill with books and go ahead and read them. I have developed my own reading and studying style way back in university days, and continue to read books in clusters of three or four, which is a tradition I continue today.
The four above books are the “cluster” I am reading today. The first, Man and His Symbols by famous German psychologist (and philosopher) Carl G. Jung, checks off the ‘psychology’ category for me. The last one in this category was ‘Healing the Child Within,’ which was a lot more contemporary and practical. This one is the mass-market introductory book for Jung, and is far more theoretical and philosophical. I am finding Jung’s work centers around dreams and dream analysis.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is part of the ‘self improvement’ box, although reading this book requires a lot of review and introspection on my part, and so progress in it has been slow.
St. Athanasius’ ‘On the Incarnation’ is a very important theological treatise from the early-ish days of Christianity, and is really the most important piece of work put forward from the Council of Nicea during the time of Constantine. I have been trying to read more about the early Church, an area of history that was sadly neglected when I was in university (I am a History major). This particular book has an introduction by C.S. Lewis, which provided a lot of insight to me, including one of his personal rules that one should intersperse reading of modern books with that of old ones. People from other ages have prejudices and make mistakes like we do, but they do not make the same mistakes, and their perspectives can benefit the reader. St. Athanasius’ work, here, helps me stay compliant to the C.S. Lewis rule.
Finally I am reading ‘Private Empire,’ a book about ExxonMobil, from Steve Coll, a highly accomplished business writer. This book does not check off any of the boxes, but is simply enjoyment reading for when I feel like unwinding and not having to think too hard. This book is one that I find very easy and pleasurable to read.
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