Do you have books that you read and re-read over the years? One of mine was written by Hugh Prather in 1970. The book is called "Notes to Myself: My struggle to become a person".
When I think back to all of the the books, movies, people that have influenced me - especially as it relates to who I will be in life and work - this book hit me hard the first time I read it. I had a reaction similar to the editor who first discovered the book. He said "When I first read Prather's manuscript it was late at night and I was tired, but by the time I finished it, I felt rested and alive".
However, my reaction was also to feel calm. You see, although my own thoughts will never match the deep, yet simple complexity of Prather's "Notes", it calmed me because I think this way as well. My mind, perhaps like yours, is always working, churning and ideating. Reading his words gave me comfort and, I think, spoke to me in a language I could understand.
When I wrote my stream of consciousness post last week, it made me think of Hugh Prather. Not because that stream was deep or terribly thought provoking, but it felt a bit personal and invasive (even though I was the initiator, not you). I imagine that "Notes to Myself" felt that way to Hugh Prather as well.
As you know, Quixoting™ is a place for sharing ideas and for inspiring folks to take action on them. I think that my regular reading of Hugh Prather's book contributed to the building up of my own inspiration to take action - by launching this blog and Tim's Strategy™. One quote that I can point to - one of the many underlined in my copy - goes like this: "Sometimes the only way for me to discover what I want to do is to go ahead and do something. Then when I start to act, my feelings begin to clarify."
This quote dovetails with the words I shared from Kurt Vonnegut. As ideas and concepts start to dovetail each other like this, it's time to start paying attention.
Someone is trying to tell you something . . .
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