Expanding your horizons is always a worthy goal. Whether that means learning a new trade skill, memorizing a bunch of Star Wars Trivia. Or, possibly, reading a metaphysical self-help book. Normally the latter does not fall on my to-do list, but I found Steve Griffiths’ the Nature of your Personal Environment an interesting read.
Amid this ongoing pandemic and quarantine, this book could not have arrived at a better time. Like a sort of Tiger King of self-help books, the contents are perfect for the challenges of isolation. In addition, the positivity in the pages is palpable, which is more to be said than any newspaper headline. Griffiths believes that the ego can be harnessed to affect our realities. It is a sort of mind-over-matter distilled into a mind-over-experience concept, a grandiose version of “if you keep positive, good things will happen.” We, he proposes, are the ever-fluctuating construction of our own beliefs and perceptions. With the right training this can be altered, to our benefit, and that appears to be the goal of the book.
The concept has its merits. Patterns are everywhere, and easily distinguishable from fate and destiny, which is illuminated here. Griffiths is also an effective communicator on his ideas. As mentioned, he keeps positive throughout, and at times I find this refreshing. Albeit towards the end I was ready to turn the phrase “the loving ego,” into a drinking game. Further on the negative side, there are spots of questionable grammar and sentence construction that while not incorrect, just do not read well. Moreover, the setup of the chapters and the reveals is formulaic and can come across as disingenuous. In other words, this basically follows the stereotypical format of every self-help book you have ever heard of. That is not necessarily a bad thing, it is just a thing. Efficiency can be a double-edged sword.
An interesting read – a rather ambiguous statement, I admit. In this case take it at face value; I am neither a philosopher, scholar, nor a new age flunky. I was also never – at least to my knowledge – dropped on my head as an infant, or someone who had/has a predilection for sniffing glue. Interesting in this context means engaging, and thoughtful enough to maintain my interest. This is the sort of book that would find its way to my coffee table eventually, in the vain hopes of distracting any would be guests while I escape out the back door.
Three and a half stars.
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