Happy Luau

Friday, July 23, 2010

Some Deep Reading

This week I have been reading intensively, something I really enjoy. One project is two books for my counseling session, assigned by my counselor:

(1) Fear of Intimacy by Robert W. Firestone:

This is a challenging, confronting, and very technical book on psychodynamic psychotherapy. I have been journaling along with reading. It has been a lot of work, but it's helped me to see how very much I truly do fear intimacy. I think that on some level we all do. Identifying how I do and perhaps why has been very enlightening.


and (2) Love's Executioner: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy by Irvin D. Yalom:

I haven't read this one yet (it is my weekend reading), but am looking forward to it, as it will most certainly be an easier read than the previous one. My counselor sure knows how to challenge me, and I like that.


In addition I am reading for fun: Jennifer Weiner's Fly Away Home: This is a light but relaxing and enjoyable read. It's the story--in different voices--of a senator's wife and her adult children after her husband has an affair that becomes public. It is not a romance, which I do not enjoy, but a tale about life and relationships that are real. I can really appreciate a heroine who is middle-aged as well.






Plus Creative Wildfire: An Introduction to Art Journaling: Basics and Beyond by L.K. Ludwig:

I am hoping that this will propel me back to creative work in the upcoming week. I know that many of you have already read this.


I have eight Amazon Vine books to catch up on too--all of them are good and of course--FREE! (I just have to write reviews of them.) After reading the heavy psychotherapy texts my reading speed will be up and I'm hoping these will go rather quickly. They are all my choice--books I've chosen and am looking forward to reading.

I am thrilled to be getting back to reading again, with gusto. I am pleased that I was able to make it happen this week, as I've missed reading so much. Household management isn't really my cup of tea, and although I have some tasks to do next week, most are minor. Instead I'm going to do a project I've been procrastinating about for months. I'll tell you about it soon...

What are you reading?

10 comments:

CrystalChick said...

Looks like a few very interesting books you are involved with now. Can't wait to hear about the project!
What am I reading??
I started Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' but it wasn't holding my interest. I may get back to it eventually.
I read Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' many months ago which I couldn't put down.
'Reiki for Life' and 'The Reiki Bible' are two that I read parts of now and then when I need a little push or guidance in my practicing.

At the bookstore I have been reading one on the benefits of Olive Oil.

And I have bookmarks in quite a few. We have 3 bookcases in our living room stuffed full of wonderful books. :)

Happy reading!

Rick Hamrick said...

I don't think there is any happier time for me than coming home from the library with a new cache of highly anticipated books.

I'm reading Michael Lewis' book on the financial meltdown, "The Big Short", and a Robert Caro book, "Master of the Senate" about LBJ.

Fun reading: Adriana Trigiani's "Very Valentine" and Stephen Coonts' "The Disciple".

Kate Robertson said...

Great list of books. I am reading Creative Wildfire. I really like the way she writes, even if it is something I know it somehow seems different and more interesting the way she puts it. I hope you enjoy it.

patti said...

You are in deep there O. Sounds like it is opening up some internal doors for you. Well done for confronting your fears.

I am 'trying' to read 'The Yellow Wallpaper (& Selected Writings)' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who was born almost exactly 100 years before me and eventually committed suicide. A sad ending for a talented writer.

Her story about the yellow wallpaper tells how her first husband keeps her semi-imprisoned (in the days when men owned their women)in a room because she is 'unwell'. (a creative soul suffering from depression) It is semi-autobiographical and is difficult to read, though it is compelling at the same time.

Olivia said...

Hi, Mary, I'm glad you (and everyone else) commented. It turns out I have no idea what other people might read, it's so surprising.

If you like Stephen King, you might like "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. It is good, but since I'm not a sci fi person, I felt like it was a struggle to read. In the end I was glad though. It was a good book. Anyway, I think you might like it.

Very interesting, Reiki. I'd forgotten that your interest there. And olive oil! It's fun to read on a range of things, don't you think.

Thanks for sharing your reading with me, xoO

Olivia said...

Rick, I didn't know you were a big reader, and of non-fiction at that! And fiction, too, I see. As much as we share online there is always more to know, isn't there?

I'll bet most of us would be surprised at what we don't know about each other's lives.

Well, thank you for sharing your reading,

Blessings and love, O

Olivia said...

Kate,

I get many recommendations from you, so I'll bet that's why we are both reading Creative Wildfire--if you mentioned it, I probably found out about it from you. I am enjoying it very much. I've wanted to finish an art journal, but usually get a couple of pages and then run out of creative impetus. I like the inspiration from reading and seeing others' work (plus like yours on your blog). xo, O

Olivia said...

Thanks, Patti. It is very deep. I have a good counselor, which is pretty incredible. Your book sounds interesting and hard. I am very, very familiar with "trying" to read. I do like to push myself and enjoy being exposed to a wide variety of ideas.

I've noticed that I find science fiction hard-good because of the terminology that refers to a constructed world--not relaxing. I recently read a book ("The Passage") that was very good but that I had to slog through. Still I am glad I did. I learned a lot about myself and now will take a break from such reading for a while.

This reading is very technical and challenging and even HARD but hard-good as well because I learn so much.

Thank you too for commenting, xoO

Anonymous said...

It's amazing and wonderful that you have a counselor who knows how to challenge you. I remember having a therapist explain to me that our relationship was a surrogate one, a place to practice and get over some issues. Later I could transfer that onto other relationships. This was a very cool woman who once allowed me to crawl up into her lap and heal some old wounds with my mother through her.

Olivia said...

I agree, Kelly. But your counselor sounds incredibly safe--I have never trusted anyone so much, I don't think, that I could do that. What a beautiful thing to have happen! Blessings and love, O