Reviews

Becoming Real: Journey to Authenticity

Becoming Real: Journey to Authenticity (DC Press, Sanford, FL, 2003) by David Irvine. Self-respect, meaningful impact, and the freedom that comes from living in harmony with your deepest self is achievable. The promise of becoming real, of living a life without façade or pretence or the need for prestige is possible. In this personal and provocative work, David shares his profoundly human journey to realness and his vision of authentic living. The authentic journey is a voyage to awaken us and take us to the heart of what our life is meant to be about. Yet when we conform to the world's expectations, we stray from that path. While some books offer ephemeral ideas for behavior change, this book offers enduring wisdom for real change. Valuable for those committed to amplify your impact in the world from your presence rather than your position, from your soul, rather than your role, and for those who yearn for serenity beyond the fleeting allure of achievement and materialism. For more information: go to www.davidirvine.com

ForeWord This Week (an e-mail newsletter produced by ForeWord Magazine) January 14, 2004

SELF HELP BOOKS PROMISE INTANGIBLE REWARDS 
Call it happiness. Call it joy or peace or fulfillment or any of a dozen words for that indefinable, elusive inner something that we crave. Whatever you call it, it“s become a favorite subject of the self-help market. Books to help readers fatten their wallets, trim their thighs or rev up their love lives are as popular as ever. But they“re sharing the self-help shelf with books offering a payoff that can“t be measured in dollars, inches or dates. In general, these books present the route to happiness as one of two diverging paths: harnessing a benevolent higher power to serve our desires, or learning to accept that power“s guidance in place of our goals.

Many of these books describe the higher power as a Creator or as God; others refer to a less theistic but nonetheless intelligent force. Each of the authors, however, holds that life is essentially good and that even hardship can be a blessing.

Winning Through Surrender

In our take-charge culture, the word "surrender" is anathema. It smacks of defeat, of hopelessness. But some authors suggest that people become happier and more fulfilled when they stop struggling against what they don“t want. This belief in the power of accepting even unwanted events and trying to grow from them infuses a number of recent titles. 

Some authors propose that the first step toward inner harmony is getting in touch with your true self, then letting that knowledge guide your actions. That“s the philosophy of books such Becoming Real: Journey to Authenticity by David Irvine (DC Press, 1-932021-10-8).

Underlying all of these books is the belief that self-help begins inside ourselves