Books I've Read

 

What has informed me

I always enjoyed reading as a child. I loved the escapism and the fantasies of Enid Blyton’s:

The Enchanted Wood

The Faraway Tree

The Wishing Chair

The Famous Five

The Secret Seven

As I grew older I starting turning to darker stuff such as:

James Herbert

Stephen King

An especially relevant book of King’s for me was “It”. The more fear that this particular group of children gave to the monster the more it grew, killed and maimed. It was about turning to face the fear and of course the more that that happened the smaller the monster became. That monster for me was my sexuality and I was very fearful of it. Thank goodness that eventually I turned to face it.

In my early 20’s I put my leisure reading on hold and started to pick up psychology literature that related to my selling career. I recognise this time as the start of when reading became hard work and looking back I didn’t really enjoy this period. I had this deeply held belief that I wasn’t good enough and I “had to” climb the career ladder in my outer world in a vain attempt to convince my inner world that I was good enough. For 15 years I slipped into workalholism and a downward spiral that involved living a secret double life until my crisis at age 37. I read titles such as:

The One Minute Manager – Ken Blanchard

I’m OK, You’re OK – Thomas Harris

Dealing with Difficult People – Rik Brinkman

Games People Play – Eric Berne

The Age of Unreason – Charles Handy.....and many more

In my early 30’s I moved into training and my literature consumption included:

Flawless Consulting – Peter Block

Improving Employee Performance – Nigel Harrison

Team Roles at Work – Meredith Belbin

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway – Susan Jeffers

Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting – Lynn Grabhorn

Training in Practice – Stephen Truelove…..and many more

In my mid to late 30’s I trained as a counsellor and this was the start of some serious personal development and self-awareness kicking in. Enjoyment of reading was coming back to me as I started to learn more and more about me. The books you would have seen me reading included:

Healing the Shame that Binds You – John Bradshaw

An Introduction to Counselling – McLeod…..and many more

From age 40 I started living an authentic life with a strong emphasis on sexuality and spirituality. I had an insatiable thirst for books on these topics. Those being:

Love Between Men - Rik Isensee

Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom

The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Men Loving Men - Mitch Walker

Soul Mates - Sue Minns

The Multi Orgasmic Man - Mantak Chia & Douglas Abrams

Liebe Macht Frei - Jeremy Harder

The New Book Of Yoga - Sivananda Yoga Centre

Tantra – The Art Of Mind Blowing Sex - Val Sampson

The Tao Of Pooh & The Te Of Piglet - Benjamin Hoff

Pink Therapy – Davies & Neal

The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success - Deepak Chopra

Listen to Your Body – Bisong Guo

The Dalai Lama's Little Book Of Inner Peace - Dalai Lama

The Diaries Of Anne Frank - Anne Frank

Detox Dieting - Nicola Graimes

Chicken Soup For The Soul - Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen

Gay Perspective - Toby Johnson

Diary Of A Man - Dermod Moore

Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl

Cruise Control - Robert Weiss

Spiritual Realisation - Ivy Northage

Conversations With God - Neale Donald Walsh

Men Speak The Unspeakable - Michael Elias & Edward Seeker

The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield

Gay Spirit Warrior - John R Stowe

The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle

Grit & Grace – Ken Wilber

The Way of The Shaman – Michael Harman

Two Flutes Playing - Raymer

What Happens When We Die – Dr Sam Parnia

How We Die – Sherwin B. Newland

The Soul Beneath The Skin - David Nimmons

The Artists Way – Julia Cameron

An Evil Cradling – Brian Keenan

The Path of The Green Man – Michael Thomas Ford

Gay Soul - Mark Thompson

A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle

Iron John – Robert Bly ..............and many many more.

At age 45 I noticed I was back to reading for real pleasure and enjoyed books such as:

Finding Earth Finding Soul – Tim Macartney

Do You Feel Loved By Me – Philip Rogers

The Book of Community living - Metcalf

The life of Pi – Yann Martel

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time – Mark Haddon

The Velvet Rage – Alan Down

The Stormy Search For The Self – Stanislav Grof

Movie Yoga – Tav Sparks

Putting on the Mind of Christ – Jim Marion

Psychology Of The Future – Stanislav Grof

Other media that have broadened my mind and informed my thinking are:

I am a member of the Edward Carpenter Community - a loving and supportive environment for gay men. I go to the Findhorn Foundation for regular retreat. I have been to Eurofaerie events and have attended a few Tantra/sexual ecstasy workshops with Gay-Tantra. I also attend warrior trainings with the Man Kind Project and have attended an introduction to shamanism with the Sacred Trust. I have also enjoyed retreating to the Coach House at Kilmuir. I used to do yoga as a gym class and I got in touch with the spirituality of yoga through the excellent teaching of Jonathan Orchard. My Sahaj Marg meditation practice is central to my spiritual development.