cover image The Little Book of Meaning: Why We Crave It, How We Create It

The Little Book of Meaning: Why We Crave It, How We Create It

Laura Berman Fortgang, . . Tarcher, $19.95 (218pp) ISBN 978-1-58542-715-4

An aspiring actress turned interfaith minister and life coach, Fortgang (Living Your Best Life ) knows what it is to struggle to find meaning in life. The yearning, she says, “can swallow you whole.” Posing such questions as “What makes a meaningful relationship with another person?” and “What constitutes meaningful work?” her lovely guide shows that meaning has five components: “Mystery” probes life's puzzles; “Minister” describes transactions between human beings (“to tend to another holding the space for their divinity and innocence to shine through”); “Magnificence” (“to see the divine, the good, the right... in every person”); “Mind” covers meditation (“What awaits us in the silence is ourselves”); and “Mystic” concludes that a New Spirituality is emerging: “The modern mystic is integrated—the worldly self and the spiritual self working as one. The modern mystic is you.” Throughout, she writes honestly about exiting the maze of her own despair and depression as she demonstrates ways to embrace life more fully. Fortgang's writing is moving in its simplicity and sincerity, and like her ministry, her message crosses religious borders; even nonbelievers will find basic truths. (May)