The Books That Inspired Me

First Book on My List of the Books That Inspired Me

Life grants you opportunities in which to learn and reflect. There are those prescient moments from childhood you always remember for one reason or another. Understandably or otherwise, imprints on the memory remain. A string of them represent the small edits that eventually lead to the shape of our minds, personalities, psychology and in some instances career choices. They are the small things that turn out to not be so small.

For me, one of these small experiences that represented far more than just minor edits that have lead to the shaping of my present agency was my childhood relationship with the author Shel Silverstein. Specifically, the book 'The Giving Tree'. If you are not familiar with the storytelling prowess of Shel Silverstein I recommend you purchase one of his book post-haste. they are a delight to the senses and and inspiration to the creative.

Regardless that this book and his many others have been designated as a children's book it is far more than this simplistic designation. Simple, short and sweet it represents a deeper metaphor for the relationships we have with our landscape. Not simply the physical environment but the ability to understand the holistic connection between every relationship that exists. The universal number of 42. Physic's 'String Theory'. Theologies pendulum with 'Light and Dark'. The Fibonacci sequence of life. To me the book represents an allusion to our participation in the universe.

Years hence I can still return to the pages of 'The Giving Tree' and feel a sense of guilt for all the moments I lost focus on my own performativity in the universe. So much of the modern world is designed to mask the need for a connection with our landscape. Phones that know more about our habits that we are conscious of ourselves. The scam associated with owning vehicles. They are suppose to be convenient but they just takes us farther from where we feel connected. Cost more than we earn and creates high-risk health issues.

When ever I am feeling like I need a philosophical reset I return to the pages of 'The Giving Tree'. It reminds me why I want to protect the environment, it makes me analyze the path of consumption and it reconnects me to the art of storytelling. What books help you ground?