the old man and the sea

I must read Hemingway.  I must? Well, I did. I read about an old man and his struggles as a fisherman.  I learned of his hard work, dedication and perseverance. Although he was old and poor, he was experienced and still fought with and for the best of them.

The entire book was his struggle at sea, and his love and friendship with a young boy who cherished and looked up to the old man.  At sea, the old man has a continuous internal dialoge with himself about his life.  He compares himself to the fight a fish that he has caught is putting up.  The fish fights on the hook for days and at the end of it all, it is eaten by a shark and the fisherman returns home empty handed.

What? Empty handed? So what was the moral of the story.  I sat there dumbfounded.

Was it that he never gave up? And that when he returned home, he had gained the respect of his community and fellow fisherman because he had survived such a fate?

Was it the lesson of hard work and believing in yourself, no matter what - that failures are a part of life and make you stronger.  Or is it just simply a story about the old man and the sea?

more eat, pray, love

reading this book, or memoir, was like having first hand insight into Gilbert's thoughts - and to some very personal thoughts at that.  It wasn't what I anticipated.  The one impulse that made me pick up this book was the comment that someone made to me about it.  She said that it was just a regular girl that decided to change her life. That she just picked up and went travelling and became successful.  It intrigued me, I wanted to read about her journey from mediocrity to excellence.  However, from what I read, she had already achieved a certain amount of success and decided to leave it all. She was a successful writer, married, lived in New York, etc...

So, the truth is, she was not satisfied with what she had. Something was not right.

Gilbert makes a lot of astute observations and articulates certain feelings very clearly.  It isn't a book that is profound or that I admire.  It isn't even a book that I would recommend.  But it is a book that is quotable.  The quotes are not credited to Gilbert.  At least not the quotes that I like.  They are things that others have relayed to her and then have for one reason or another resonated with me.

Her experiences allowed me to remember things.  To remember what it is like to meet new people and the insights others can offer you.  The importance of being open to allow others in and to listen to what they have to say.  You never know who may come along, what might be said, and the lasting impressions that are made, can be priceless.

I would like to share one with you:

"...People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants.  But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.  A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake.  But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah.  Too painful.  Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave..." (p. 149)

We all need these rare persons who shake us up, or shake us out, of a place that we may not even be conscious of.  Who are these "soul mates" that turn on a light bulb in our numb minds? Bless them, they are necessary.  But they are hard to let go.

eat, pray love - complete

well well well, I have certainly been curious these days about all the modern day hype on modern day journeys of modern day woman.  Single woman goes off to find herself - leaves broken and returns whole. All she needed was a little food, meditation and love.  If only it were that simple.

All in all, I love the concept of taking time for yourself to re-examine things - to look back on your life and the decisions you've made, to take some time to heal from hurtful experiences, or to simply view the world.

For Gilbert, she sought balance, she sought God, and she searched for these things by travelling through Italy, India and Indonesia, eating, praying and loving, respectfully.

To be continued...

jane eyre - complete

Tragic love stories, they somehow stir my inner core, but was this one really tragic?  If two lovers, after all has been said and done, find their way back to one another, isn’t that bliss? I won't comment on all that transpired between our intelligent Miss. Eyre and bold Mr. Rochester, but here's the ending wrapped up in a nice little bow for you to envision for yourself.  

Mr. Rochester, Jane's one love, her master, her hero, was rendered blind and armless because he climbed to the roof of his burning home to save a woman; this woman proceeded to jump off the roof and kill herself. This all happened while Jane was absent.  She had left Mr. Rochester because he was dishonest...oops, he just neglected to tell her that he already has a wife, who is actually locked up in the attic of the very house where they live and is the very same woman who jumped off the roof (she was not mentally sound).  Only classics are able to tell such an extraordinary story with such believability and eloquence. Modern day language could never get away with this, or it could, but minus the grace and beauty.

A year passed since Jane left her post as Governess for Mr. Rochester. She found her way in the world and discovered her talents, her voice and realized what she wanted most. They say time heals all, but Jane couldn't forget Mr. Rochester.  She thought of him often and this, or should I say "he", is who she wanted most.

She returned to the home where she experienced feelings of love for the first time.   She wanted to see the one man who suited her.

This passage is so rationally romantic:

"...To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company.  We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking.  All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character - perfect concord is the result." (p. 491) 

On her journey back to the home where she was a governess and where she first started to blossom into a woman, she learns of the tragedy of loss and death that had occurred just a few months after she left Thornfield Hall.  When she arrived, she watched Mr. Rochester, without his knowledge, and observed her hero as a blind and crippled man.  Her heart hurt and she wanted nothing more than to take care of him, to be his eyes and to be his guide. She loved him all the same, even more. She was finally fulfilled.

So, albeit, there are many moments, scenes, events that have been left out, but would you call this tragic? Or does your heart feel satisfied?

They went on to marry, have a child, and slowly, his sight began to appear... in one eye.

Here are some passages to leave you with, if only words were spoken like this today – 

"I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth." (p. 490)

"To be privileged to put my arms round what I value - to press my lips to what I love - to repose on what I trust: is that to make a sacrifice? If so, then certainly I delight in sacrifice." (p. 485)

writing down the bones: freeing the writer within

New pace these days and it goes like this: ignore my old list, buy a new book, read it and blog about it.  I love it.  This is a book that offers some reality about being a writer. Reading about experiences from Natalie Goldberg's own journey, provides some good insight on how one would take the leap of faith and just start writing.  It is also very practical - talks about the good, the bad and the ugly.  

This book took me on an interesting journey - when I started it, I felt discouraged.  The idea of just writing notebooks and notebooks of junk, seemed so useless.  But "writing practice" is about training the mind to write, to record those "first thoughts" that are so raw and true and honest.

It is one of those books (like all books I guess) that you use your critical mind to extract what you will from it.  By the end of it, I had a number of blue dots (this is what I do when there is an interesting passage that I want to return to at a later date) beside various paragraphs towards the end of the book.

Here is one 'blue dot":

'If you begin too exactly, you will stay precise but never hit the exact mark that makes the words vibrate with the truth that goes through the present, past, and future." p. 165

In other words, let go, be free to write as you want to write, with no constraints. Wander, test and try. You can always return to accuracy.

the happiness project - complete

This book didn't sit long on my bookshelf.  In fact, it never saw the shelf.  I bought it, read it and shared it.

So yes, this was another new addition to the list.  Why The Happiness Project? I was at the bookstore in a particular frame of mind and the book was directly in front of me.  Someone had recently talked about it and I just "felt" like I had to buy it.  Yikes, did I act on a feeling?  What's happening to me?

I didn't blog as I was reading this one, I felt an urgency to get through it and I thought that blogging would slow me down.  Why the urgency? Perhaps because I was too curious to find out if Rubin (the author) found her happiness by the end of the year and more importantly, how she found it. Perhaps because I am struggling with my own level of happiness (or level of satisfaction of my life, to be more accurate). Or perhaps because I was reading along with a friend, and I felt a little inner competition to finish it first.

This concept of doing something for a year keeps being passed around, people doing different things, for different reasons for a certain period of time.  To make a commitment, to try something new, to change your environment, to create "an atmosphere of growth", as Gretchen puts it, all assist in creating happiness. How can we continue to do the same thing for an extended period of time and expect to feel alive?

Rubin's key question to ask yourself is:  In this moment of your life, what makes you feel good, bad and/or right?  The answers may lead you somewhere.

The Happiness Project was interesting and Rubin drew some valid conclusions about her personal findings throughout the year.  More than anything, I think she exposed a real and human side of herself that almost everyone can relate to.  She wrote about her flaws and daily struggles to the public.  This prompts others to take a real honest look at themselves as they see others have the same imperfections.  Rather then deny or hide, they can accept and improve.

She taught, by example, a way to improve ourselves and to reach our potential as human beings.  Simple concepts, not new, but renewed & equally important.

We underestimate the meaning of happiness in our lives.  My definition of happiness was to live according to my values.  More simply, Be Me.

understanding stocks

CANSLIM

This is an acronym for the characteristics of picking winning stocks! Created by William O'Neil, here is what it stands for:

C: current quarterly earnings per share
A: annual earnings increase
N: new products, new managements, new highs
S: supply and demand
L: leader or laggard
I: institutional sponsorship
M: market direction

Are your stocks CANSLIM?  And yes, there is an explanation of each one of these attributes, so if you have any questions, just ask!