I saw this book by Toni Bernhard in Twice Told Tales, a used bookstore with cats. Here are some pictures of the cats:
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Er, I got sidetracked.
Here is a picture of the book’s cover.
I picked it up near the register because of the title. I wondered if it was about chronic fatigue syndrome. I flipped through it a little, and it is, so I bought it.
I’m halfway through.
- validation
- i feel less crazy
- reactions from peets and doctors
- kind of Woo
- overemphasizes these Great Teachers Of Meditation and how Great they are
- some jargon
- but it’s explained patiently
- helpful for me to read about acceptance
- and “equanimity”
- but how can any of us be equanimous in the era of climate change? how can we be anything but fully enraged?
I am liking it. It’s just that I have to hold my extreme anger at everything in balance with the equanimity the buddha teaches we must strive for. Having equanimity doesn’t necessarily mean just taking things lying down though. She goes over assertiveness in getting doctors to treat you, for example.
I dunno. I think it’s been a good read for me because I’m not alone. I’m so not alone that other CFS sufferers are publishing books about it. This is real, and I can learn to cope, as long as I also accept that there are going to be lots of things I can’t do. Which has been true for like fifteen years–I just try to do it and then miss out on things for a month afterwards. So in that sense acceptance/realism/pessimism (buu the correct kind of pessimism) is important.