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Description: The old Quaker adage, "Let your life speak," spoke to author Parker J. Palmer when he was in his early 30s. It summoned him to a higher purpose, so he decided that henceforth he would live a nobler life. "I lined up the most elevated ideals I could find and set out to achieve them," he writes. "The results were rarely admirable, often laughable, and sometimes grotesque.... I had simply found a 'noble' way of living a life that was not my own, a life spent imitating heroes instead of listening to my heart." Thirty years later, Palmer now understands that learning to let his life speak means "living the life that wants to live in me." It involves creating the kind of quiet, trusting conditions that allow a soul to speak its truth. It also means tuning out the noisy preconceived ideas about what a vocation should and shouldn't be so that we can better hear the call of our wild souls. There are no how-to formulas in this extremely unpretentious and well-written book, just fireside wisdom from an elder who is willing to share his mistakes and stories as he learned to live a life worth speaking about. --Gail Hudson
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Review Summary: The Marketing Take on "Let Your Life Speak" |
Date: 2008-11-18 |
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Details: When Parker Palmer wrote Let Your Life Speak, I doubt he expected me to endorse its message of differentiation. In fact, he probably wasn't thinking of his effort being cast as an entrepreneurial tool of any sort.
That's because the book is intended to help readers take on spiritual issues, such as finding a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives.
It's not a "how to" manual. There are no step-by-step instructions, nor pages titled "The Four Things You NEED TO KNOW about Vocation." Instead, the book is mostly about him: the zig-zags his life took as he learned (many times, the hard way) the nature of his true self. He uses his own personal journey to illustrate the nature of vocation, and the conflicts that confront us as we seek to understand it.
It's quite a journey -- he leaves UC Berkeley to become a Washington D.C. based community organizer, and from there goes on to become a Quaker, and then a writer, speaker, and activist.
If you're going through a period where you're asking questions like why you're here on this earth, his reflections will be meaningful to you.
If you're trying to figure out how to get more leads and sell more stuff, you've come to the good part. He writes:
Our problem as Americans... is that we resist the very idea of limits.... Our national myth is about the endless defiance of limits.... We refuse to take no for an answer.
Perseverance is vital, and it's important to know real limits from apparent limits. But, unless we take some time to reflect on who we are, of what we do well, and what we're passionate about, our temptation (and cultural inclination) is to try to be all things to all people.
Many years ago, Jack Trout wrote Differentiate or Die.
What I'm writing, right now, is that your differentiation must harness your passion. If you're not sure what it is or where it's coming from, you could do much worse than to spend some time reading this 109 page book. |
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Review Summary: What am I missing? |
Date: 2008-10-06 |
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Details: I read this book at the suggestion of a counselor who is helping me through depression and lack of interest in my career. While I was touched by his insights and authenticity, I was nagged by the practical aspect (or lack thereof) of letting your life speak. Palmer seemed to have an endless amount of time and resources to find his true calling in life. How does this apply to people who struggle just to put food on the table, who lack the means to get a higher education, or who have a family to support? Palmer's journey seems to be a luxury that many can't afford. Also, he seems to gloss over the difficulties involved in discovering that you picked the wrong path- not only for the self, but for all the others involved (spouse, children, friends).
A lovely book, but too "pie in the sky" for me. |
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Review Summary: Priceless wisdom... |
Date: 2008-08-12 |
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Details: Books make great gifts. This is the one I give most often. I love Palmer's writing style and his message. As with his other books, Let Your Life Speak is well-organized and the concepts well developed.
In this era, in this culture, there are countless forces that urge us to ask the wrong question-- What should I do with my life? That question and related ones are evidence of the distorting, external pressures (oughts) that surround us. A more organic approach is, in Palmer's words, "Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you."
"Vocation," or calling, is a birthright gift to be received, not a goal to be achieved. Enabling its receipt requires that we listen to the voice inside each of us. True identity results from listening well, with effective service the extension of that knowledge.
The search for true self must not end with one's gifts. The journey into darkness, one's shadow, must be undertaken to complete the quest for authentic self. Those that befriend what they discover become whole and are least likely to project onto others. Finding one's vocation benefits everyone.
Palmer rightfully connects authenticity with social movements. Having found and united with other authentic individuals, those in a movement "refuse to sit at the back of the bus." The perturbed system yields to the logic of the movement, with many benefiting from the shift. The individual path toward true self not only rewards the pilgrim, its positive effects radiate in every-widening circles to even influence nation states.
I highly recommend this wisdom-filled book.
--Jack H. Bender, author of Disregarded: Transforming the School and Workplace through Deep Respect and Courage
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Review Summary: A fantastic book |
Date: 2008-07-21 |
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Details: A fantastic book!
This book has been my default purchase for people that are going through tough times, or people that are at a point of change in their lives (or should be). It is free of the "you-can-do-it-all" fluffiness. It brings a real, truthful and deep approach to life.
This is the kind of book that you not only read the words, but the spaces between the words. Great, great stuff. One of my all-time favorites. |
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Review Summary: Let Your Life Speak |
Date: 2008-06-25 |
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Details: A wonderful little book, and easy to read. This reflective little book looks into what "God's will" means in a practical modern life through a personal exploration of the author's own life. If you are looking for an insightful meditation on vocation and work, you will very much enjoy this book! |
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out of 54 Reviews
