01 Jul Lost & Found – a short excerpt
In my weekly eNewsletter, that went out this morning, I included a short excerpt from the Introduction of my new book, “Lost & Found – how to wander your way to a better life” which I’m very excited to say is OUT TOMORROW!
I’ll be including a few other excerpts, in coming newsletters, so if you’d like to see more (along with other tips and articles I include) then you can sign up on the HOME page or the CONTACT US page of my website.
But for now, here’s a taster! I hope you like it and if you do, you should be able to find “Lost & Found” in all good bookstores or you can order online HERE, or download the Audible version HERE.
So, with no further adieu, here we go …
Have you ever found yourself wandering along a city or suburban street and then noticed a beautiful flower rising up through a crack in the concrete? Seemingly out of nowhere, something beautiful has grown amid that which, well, is not so beautiful.
Within Buddhism, there’s an oft mentioned metaphor referring to the stunning lotus flower. The simple message is that lotus flowers grow from mud, and that symbolism can be extended to mean that we can find light within the dark, that
we will only find light within the dark, and that just as beauty grows from the murky depths of the pond, there’s happiness to be discovered even in the most unlikely of situations.
Both of these analogies are comparable to the birth of this book. Although I didn’t realise it, the idea for this book was originally planted more than three decades ago now, and the seeds were lost in what became a pretty messy and disturbed life. In many ways, what were chaotic and incoherent ideas are now, I hope, at least slightly more polished and attractive, having drifted in and out of my consciousness, scrambling over the crags and crevices of my confused mind, following a path that didn’t yet exist, towards a goal that couldn’t yet be defined.
It was a vague and shambolic growth, the sort of growth where something’s trying to find itself but doesn’t really even know it’s lost. And if you’ve ever been lost and disoriented, which I’m sure you have, because, let’s face it, we all have at some time, then you’ll understand that it’s hard to express one’s thoughts, let alone imagine they could be publishable.
Until now, that is …
It’s been said that time heals all wounds. I’m not sure if this is true, at least not for all wounds, but there’s no doubt that time can provide distance or perspective, and that distance and perspective can alleviate distress and suffering. In the same way, time can create clarity, not only through this distance but also as a result of reflection and meditation, pondering and deliberation. That which begins by feeling lost and vague can become clearer and well realised.
This book is the product of much thinking and of much rethinking; what you’re reading now is the result of finding success after many failures, of finding a way forward following years of feeling blocked. It is a story of optimism arising from hopelessness and helplessness. It’s a story within which I very much hope you find some answers to living well in a world that often seems to be unwell, to enjoying positive emotions in a world that often seems overrun by negatives, of embracing the messiness of being lost and uncertain and knowing that, in doing so, a virtuous and honourable way forward will appear.
In short, this book is about being lost and found; it’s about mess, glorious mess. It’s about how losing yourself may well be what you really need to do to find yourself, and then to enjoy a better life!
Once again, because I can’t help myself, you can find “Lost & Found” in all good bookstores or you can order online HERE, or download the Audible version HERE.