I had an extraordinary weekend over the Fourth of July, but it was *so* extraordinary and moving and personal that I hesitate to write about it. However, it's been all consuming of my thoughts - and so I was happy today to find something else to blog about.
I was in Phoenix Books, sister store to Dog Eared Books (my favorite) in Noe Valley today, and I found a few great things. The first was a book whose title, "How to be An Adult" caught my eye. I mean, a title like that - who *isn't* going to want to buy that? It was a slim little volume, too, which made it approachable, friendly, even a little cute.
It's sub-titled "A Handbook on Psychological and Spiritual Integration," by David Richo, PhD, "a psychotherapist, teacher and retreat leader" in - where else - San Francisco. I skimmed it heavily in the shop and read a few excepts when I got it home, and already I like it. Barely more than 100 pages long, it basically has brief but clear and full definitions of things (i.e. appropriate vs neurotic fear), as well as tools like checklists: "A Checklist on Boundaries in Relationship" - you know, what it looks like when you give up boundaries and when they are intact. He encourages you to draw a line between the two and mark where you are on a scale from 1 to 10, and thereby be able to see where to focus your energies. He also helpfully provides techniques for change. It all seems very easy to use.
The book definitely assumes that you already have a pretty good idea of who you are, some understanding of the Nature of Things. It's not there to present you with all the concepts you need to evolve, but rather to remind you, in an orderly fashion, of what there is and what needs to be done. I've always wanted a book like this, and maybe after reading it I will be more of an adult.
The other great thing I found were some postcards - of Shawn Cassidy (yes, I used to love my Shawn Cassidy poster), and Barbarella, and a nice Art Deco streamlined illustration ad for a 1935 Lincoln. Very sexy.
There was also one that drew my attention with the large red-font title "What Position Do You Want?" It wasn't sexual, but occupational. It's basically a replica of a mail-order flyer, from the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, PA; you could check off any of the suggested trades or professions that interest you and receive more information. Here are some of the positions we USED to have in America, in enough abundance to make it typical:
I mean, in a way, I'm glad I didn't grow up in a town where everyone was a coal worker, but it's also kind of a bummer to imagine all those engineers and draftsmen and bookkeepers who used to have jobs in America that could support a family of five: house, dog, summer vacations, new car every couple years and, that ever-more elusive American Dream item, retirement. We don't have many of those jobs anymore. We're information workers, supposedly, but our country is full of meth towns and hardly anyone I know thinks they will ever retire. Which way was better? Hard to say. I like to think that we can collectively come up with something else - where everyone can do meaningful work that isn't dangerous or unhealthy, and people can have enough to live.
I was reading in The New Yorker about Clarence Darrow's famous cases, around the turn of the century, fighting for the right of workers to strike. Making a point of the unethical disparity between the rich (owners) and poor (striking workers), he mentions that the top one percent of the populations owned 51% of the wealth. Now, the article says, it's 35%. Gee, I thought. That's not too much of an improvement in the last century. Kind of a bummer. It's at least....better.
Well, it's time for me to go now, take a bath (a full one, this time), and read about how to become an adult. Maybe if we all did that, we could get that percentage down a little bit more.
I was in Phoenix Books, sister store to Dog Eared Books (my favorite) in Noe Valley today, and I found a few great things. The first was a book whose title, "How to be An Adult" caught my eye. I mean, a title like that - who *isn't* going to want to buy that? It was a slim little volume, too, which made it approachable, friendly, even a little cute.
It's sub-titled "A Handbook on Psychological and Spiritual Integration," by David Richo, PhD, "a psychotherapist, teacher and retreat leader" in - where else - San Francisco. I skimmed it heavily in the shop and read a few excepts when I got it home, and already I like it. Barely more than 100 pages long, it basically has brief but clear and full definitions of things (i.e. appropriate vs neurotic fear), as well as tools like checklists: "A Checklist on Boundaries in Relationship" - you know, what it looks like when you give up boundaries and when they are intact. He encourages you to draw a line between the two and mark where you are on a scale from 1 to 10, and thereby be able to see where to focus your energies. He also helpfully provides techniques for change. It all seems very easy to use.
The book definitely assumes that you already have a pretty good idea of who you are, some understanding of the Nature of Things. It's not there to present you with all the concepts you need to evolve, but rather to remind you, in an orderly fashion, of what there is and what needs to be done. I've always wanted a book like this, and maybe after reading it I will be more of an adult.
The other great thing I found were some postcards - of Shawn Cassidy (yes, I used to love my Shawn Cassidy poster), and Barbarella, and a nice Art Deco streamlined illustration ad for a 1935 Lincoln. Very sexy.
There was also one that drew my attention with the large red-font title "What Position Do You Want?" It wasn't sexual, but occupational. It's basically a replica of a mail-order flyer, from the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, PA; you could check off any of the suggested trades or professions that interest you and receive more information. Here are some of the positions we USED to have in America, in enough abundance to make it typical:
- Show-Card Writing. I don't even really know what that is, and I watch a lot of old movies
- Window Trimming. Was this ever lucrative?
- Stenographer
- High School Mathematics, which is listed separately from Teacher
- Carpet Designing, as well as Wallpaper, Linoleum, Bookcover and Ornamental Designing - all separate trades, mind you
- Automobile Running. Again, what IS that?
- Boiler Drainer
- Foundry Work and Blacksmithing
- Ocean and Lake Pilot
- Mine Surveyor
- Electric Railways
- And, finally, a few languages listed at the end for good measure (French, German, Spanish), although they don't mention what sorts of jobs they expect you can get after taking a correspondence course on them
I mean, in a way, I'm glad I didn't grow up in a town where everyone was a coal worker, but it's also kind of a bummer to imagine all those engineers and draftsmen and bookkeepers who used to have jobs in America that could support a family of five: house, dog, summer vacations, new car every couple years and, that ever-more elusive American Dream item, retirement. We don't have many of those jobs anymore. We're information workers, supposedly, but our country is full of meth towns and hardly anyone I know thinks they will ever retire. Which way was better? Hard to say. I like to think that we can collectively come up with something else - where everyone can do meaningful work that isn't dangerous or unhealthy, and people can have enough to live.
I was reading in The New Yorker about Clarence Darrow's famous cases, around the turn of the century, fighting for the right of workers to strike. Making a point of the unethical disparity between the rich (owners) and poor (striking workers), he mentions that the top one percent of the populations owned 51% of the wealth. Now, the article says, it's 35%. Gee, I thought. That's not too much of an improvement in the last century. Kind of a bummer. It's at least....better.
Well, it's time for me to go now, take a bath (a full one, this time), and read about how to become an adult. Maybe if we all did that, we could get that percentage down a little bit more.
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