Category: book review

Book Review: The Dharma of Fashion

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This book discusses our attitudes to the clothes we wear and buy from a Buddhist perspective, including many interviews with Josh Korda of Dharma Punx, of whom I’m a fan. As a postgraduate student of Buddhism, I was expecting a lot more from this book, it seemed to be aimed at those who identify as shopping addicts rather than general consumers.

It discusses the dopamine hit we get from the search for new item (which decreases when we actually buy the item, which perpetuates the cycle of shopping), and about Buddhist views on attachment and craving. The author puts forward a theory that what drives our attitudes to shopping and fashion is an aversion to facing up to the fact that we will grow old, experience illness and eventually die.

The section on how clothing makes us feel, and how we use it to feel part of a tribe, but also how we compare ourselves with others was interesting, how we dress to become our desires. We need to bring more awareness to our desires and motivations, being curious about our “vedana”, our feeling-tone (are things experienced as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral). The way to overcome this, it is suggested, is to reflect on the fragility of human life, which will help to suppress our cravings for consumerism in the realm of fashion. Whilst the practice of contemplating the “foulness of the body” is known in Buddhism, this is usually a practice aimed at monks, rather than lay people, and certainly not one with which to start one’s Buddhist journey. The suggested practice of starting a “desire diary” seemed a better place to start for those in the grips of shopping addiction.

There were interesting points made in this book, but could have been better developed (the book is only 96 pages). The pages were littered with quirky drawings, many of which did not resonate with me and did not appear to connect with the text.
I was expecting much more on our attitudes to consumerism in general, and more on fast fashion and the ethics of this industry, from a Buddhist perspective.

I received a free advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

Round-up of 2019 (1): my best books

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I love the end of the year, such a great time to reflect on how things have gone, and time to look forward and plan. It’s been quite a challenging year for me in lots of ways, I had major surgery halfway through the year, which had quite a long recovery period – a great opportunity to slow down and take stock (whether you like it or not!). One bonus of spending a lot of the summer on the sofa was I got to read some awesome books! These are not necessarily books that came out in 2019 (although some are), just ones that I discovered and enjoyed this year. Reading is a great ‘slow’ activity, I’d much rather spend a few weeks immersed in a novel than watch a film and have it all over in a couple of hours!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

I discovered the awesome American Gothic of Shirley Jackson this year, so atmospheric. The characters really stay with you after the novel is finished (always the sign of a good book). Written in 1962, the story features two sisters (one of whom has not left the house in 6 years) who live in a large, isolated house, and their wheelchair-bound Uncle who lives with them. The rest of their family died tragically, and the novel unravels what happened to them, through the intense relationship between the two sisters. The writing is brilliant, and I’m definitely going to check out more of Jackson’s work.

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zuzak

I loved The Book Thief, but this is totally unlike it, but still brilliant. At almost 550 pages, it’s a bit of a doorstopper, and was quite slow to get going, but once it did, I genuinely couldn’t put it down. The story is about six brothers (the Dunbar boys), and their relationship with their father, but also with the land they live on. A beautiful, gentle, and slow book at times, but this wasn’t a negative for me. The ‘bridge’ is both a physical bridge and also a metaphorical one between the boys and each other, and the other characters. Beautiful.

In Praise of Slow by Carl Honore

I’ve already reviewed this book here, the bible of the slow movement. If you’re interested in the idea of slow living and how it can apply to many different areas, such as travel, cities, relationships, work, family, etc, then this is a must-read.

My Struggle (Book 2): A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knausgaard

Knausgaard is a bit like Marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it. I definitely fall into the first category. His 6 book epic fictionalised autobiography features the minutiae of his life, meandering from detail to detail. This volume focuses on his relationship with his wife and their children, and her postnatal depression. The writing is exquisite (if you like this sort of thing), and I can’t wait to read volume 3 in 2020.

Destination Simple by Brooke McAlary

I heard about Brooke through her awesome Slow Your Home podcast, so was keen to read one of her books. If you’re just starting out with slow and simple living, this is a great place to do it. She talks about daily rituals to help you to slow down and live a more intentional life, and also the great concept of ’tilting’ towards things in life that we need to give our attention to, such as family or work, for a while, and then tilting away from them when the busyness dies down. Tilting is a great idea, and helps you to maintain a sense of balance, and prevents overwhelm.

I’m looking forward to more awesome reads in 2020! What was the best book you read in 2019?

Book Review: In Praise of Slow – How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed (by Carl Honore)

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This is the book that started it all, that coined the term the “Slow Movement”. Prior to that, there had been the Slow Food movement in Italy spreading out to other places, and other groups attempting to slow down particular facets of their lives. Carl Honore does a great job of pulling all of those slow strands together, showing us what slow living is, and also what it is not.

In an expanded version of his popular TED talk, Honore challenges the common assumption that faster is better. He argues that every person and activity has its own “tempo giusto” or inherent speed. When we take the time to cook our food from scratch, with seasonal ingredients, for instance, and enjoy it with family or friends, it not only tastes better but also has the potential to become a happy memory, an experience worth having. This does not necessarily mean slaving away for hours in the kitchen, slow cooking everything; it is possible to quickly cook a slow meal. The main ingredients for it to be “slow food” are respect for the environment in producing the ingredients, taste and community.

The book covers the reaches of the Slow Movement from sex and relationships, slow cities, exercise, alternative medicine and parenting. Whatever the context, the ethos is the same: faster is not necessarily better. Honore does not disregard the fast, he himself plays ice hockey, a fairly fast-paced sport. What he does point out is that one cannot live life at that pace all of the time, there must be balance. Choosing a slower pace does not mean moving at the speed of a snail, but rather bringing some intentionality to what we are doing, and taking the time to enjoy it.

The sections on slow parenting, home education and reducing working hours really spoke to me. I have only ever worked part time since having my daughter almost 14yrs ago, a choice that was not that common among my (almost exclusively female) colleagues. I often felt like a square peg, but knew deep down that I valued being at home more than increasing my salary, so much so that after I had my son 5yrs ago, I gave up working and started home educating. This afforded us a much slower pace of life, and whilst I had never been one for over – scheduling kids’ activities, we could now really live at our own pace, finding delight in those activities we chose to participate in.

Living a slow, intentional life can at times feel like swimming against the tide. I enjoyed reading about the various worldwide groups that are choosing to life differently: the Sloth Club and the Society for the Deceleration of Time, as well as the various worldwide Slow Food groups.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Book review: In Praise of Wasting Time

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Let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand.

Thoreau

I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately, and in particular the challenge of doing nothing. So when I came across this little book, I had to read it. At only 128 pages, this is a must-read for anyone curious about the benefits of dropping everything and just being.

Professor Lightman outlines our fixation with time, with how long everything takes, with filling every minute of our waking time with activities and projects. He argues that our lives have become “frenzied”, that we get angry if we have to wait to see our GP. We have lost the ability to take the meandering way home, to daydream,

The problem, Professor Lightman argues, is that we are constantly plugged into “The Grid” – the internet, digital communication and social media (although he does also argue that the general pace of life outside of this has taken on a frenzied pace). Consumerism and an obsession with productivity have lead to a “heightened awareness of the commercial and goal-oriented uses of time” at the expense of genuinely free time for reflection and doing less. Even the speed at which we walk has increased in recent years.

He extols the benefits of unstructured time in terms of our creativity and mental “replenishment”. This non-stop stimulation from technology is having a detrimental effect on our mental health, leaving us with an inability to be alone with ourselves.

Lightman also talks about how childrens’ lives are overscheduled and the amount of pressure parents feel to have their children reach certain milestones by particular points in their lives, to keep up with peers. Play, both for children and adults, has many well-documented benefits. The joy of doing something simply for fun or amusement allows the mind to focus on means rather than ends.

The author outlines the well-known benefits of meditation on wellbeing, although he says that this is not strictly necessary, what is needed is simply downtime from The Grid. Downtime enables us to rest and develop our creativity.

Whilst this was an interesting read, I did not come away feeling like I had learned anything new. I think many of us are well aware that our lives and those of our children are increasingly overscheduled, and the disadvantages of technology for our mental wellbeing. What was most interesting to me was in the final chapter, Lightman talks about the difference between chronos – sequential clock time – and kairos – time created by human events, such as a meal or a relationship, a memory.

Surprisingly, despite mentioning meditation, Lightman does not really mention mindfulness, which I think is the key to what he is getting at – when we are aware of what is happening right now, in this moment, then we can truly slow down time (as it were) and begin to create some space in our lives to appreciate the little things, to create gratitude, appreciation and the sense of kairos he mentions.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.