Reading

To Hear, One Must be Silent

Ogion, when asked about the ‘use’ of a plant call the fourfoil:

“When you know the fourfoil in all its seasons root and leaf and flower, by sight and scent and seed, then you may learn its true name, knowing it’s being: which is more useful than its use. What, after all, is the use of you? Or myself?... to hear, one must be silent.” The Books of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

Our perspective is almost always from the point of view of utility. “What can I use this for?”

And that question defines things for us.

It makes sense for a human to be interested in what things in the world might be useful for. And it makes sense for things to be defined that way.

But this perspective doesn't always lead to the true being of things and, if misapplied, can lead us to miss the point entirely.

Pay attention. Look. Listen. Notice the world around you for what it is.

To hear, one must be silent.

Important Books I Read in 2018

You read some books at the right time. Something in them shifts the way you think.

It could be that you've been leading up to that shift for some time. Perhaps the book has a completely new idea to you.

I read a lot of books that changed things for me this year. Here's a list:

  • Braving the Wilderness - Brene Brown
  • Rising Strong - Brene Brown
  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck - Mark Manson
  • Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
  • The Story of the Human Body - Daniel Lieberman
  • How to Change your Mind - Michael Pollan
  • Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker
  • How Emotions are Made - Lisa Feldman Barret
  • Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers - Robert Sopolsky
  • Non-violent communication - Marshall Rosenberg
  • Atomic Habits - James Clear
  • This is Marketing - Seth Godin