Wisdom for Living: Learning to Follow Your Inner Guidance

Former English professor Feldman and writing teacher Clark team up for this accessible guide to contemplating questions of morals, ethics, and aesthetics through journaling. Along with brief, direct prompts to help readers reflect and arrive at new insights, the authors present short essays to start people thinking. Topics include acknowledging and coping with death, exploring restraining beliefs, finding and developing talents, and exploring deeper morals and ethics by rereading entries and editing. Some of the more intriguing prompts include asking readers to describe the wisest person they know and to highlight the %E2%80%9Cpossibilities or limitations of positive thinking.%E2%80%9D With chapters limited to one page and structured around 15-minute-long writing exercises, this guide%E2%80%99s simplicity will help readers looking for an everyday journaling tool. Feldman and Clark ask readers to look at themselves inwardly as well as outwardly (%E2%80%9Cassess how well you keep yourself from judging others%E2%80%9D) and to continuously strive to increase their influence on the world. The authors use advice from spiritual leaders (such as Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama), but their overall approach welcomes both spiritual and secular readers. Fans of Wayne Dyer should enjoy this sharp work. (Aug.)