Nort (the book)

I’v finally published my first (and probably last) book; ‘Nort; Finding Myself in New York City in the Sixties’. It is a true life memoir about living in NYC during the tumultuous Sixties, it is actually a first-person story about the personal revolution I was going through at the time while surrounded by the larger social-political events taking place in America; the VietNam war, drugs, music, hippies and the civil rights movement. It is  an informal easy-to-read, sometimes humorous story about a culture-bound adolescent striving to understand the nature of personal relationships and how to get along in the world.

The book is available on Amazon.com as both a paperback and an ebook.

Writing this book did not represent either the start of a new career or creating a new income (all after-tax proceeds go to charity). It is more of a long held bucket list objective that I finally got done! In the end, it turned out to be an interesting story (at least to some people). If you read it, I hope you find something interesting in it. And please let me know, either on this blog, writing a review on Amazon or Twitter at #nortthebook. Happy summer reading, and be well. I;ll be back soon with an update post.

nothing stays the same

We’ve heard it before; but it is really true. When you can see things as they actually are, you see that they really are different from a  moment ago, whether it is on a molecular level or a macro level. And this is neither good nor bad, only the way it is! Your life becomes more livable, more enjoyable. You become free from suffering as you ‘go-with-the-flow’, and live life as it comes. That’s not to say that we can’t or shouldn’t make wise choices. In fact, living a good life brings with it both the opportunity and responsibility to live well; right living. And, this is the true way to liberation; freedom from suffering. This is anicca.

I like the Buddhist concept of no-self; anatta. Self is a western concept formed as a result of identification. It is not a bad thing; in fact, it is a functional necessity, but it is an illusion. This insight also makes us free.

Good stuff to ponder