Awakening

Who’s to say the effort to be real isn’t the beginning of wings?

I love these lines that I read this morning in The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. I know some will scoff — but that’s my desire — to be unmitigatedly real. Is that possible? I think so — despite the unreality of our world — the ubiquitous reality shows, the faux-politicians, the obsessive acquisitiveness — I think there’s a movement in our culture to become awake, to rouse from our slumber and realize ourselves and each other. Well, it’s a bit early in the day for all that, isn’t it?

There are a few books that have profoundly influenced my interior — and exterior — life and how I live. Walden, of course. Letters to a Young Poet. The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha. Machiavelli’s Prince. And, I’m beginning to think (and I’m only 78 pages into this nearly 500-page tome), Nepo’s book is going to infiltrate my system just as those others did. I highly recommend it.