From our library...

Das Energi by Paul Williams (1973)

There are certain books that hit "right" when read at the right time of life and perhaps this is just one of them...this book found its way to the bookshelf when I (Caleb) was traveling post-college-graduation towards California in a slowly dying van that I just hoped would get me there (as one of its many issues was bad brakes it was certainly not going to be a good fit for San Francisco driving!) and I picked it up in a used bookstore in Boulder. It fit right in alongside Kerouac's On the Road and my Viking Portable Library Nietzsche. Yeah, kind of stereotypical but no less meaningful to me for the cliche' of it all. And that's how I feel about this book. There is plenty that is cliche' in it's pages and there is plenty that's "of a period" (a new-age 70's hippie vibe permeates), and yet I still think there's plenty that is meaningful. I could be wrong, but as it's a quick and easy read (basically a book of linked aphorisms) what do you have to lose? Or, as Williams says...

"open yourself to absolutely anything that

gets thrown at you

-- including death, and life --

open all the way

don't worry about picking out the important stuff

just let it all get thrown at you

and the important stuff

will be what hits you

all you have to do is not shut anything out"

Within Das Energi's pages Williams touches upon relationships:

"Two people do not have to agree on what's right to be together

They just have to want to be together.

If that sounds simple, try it sometime."

Mood management:

"One moment I'm angry at something.

I Don't like it.

I can put it in a category, try to dislike it forever, teach my children to dislike it.

Or, I can express my anger, and forget about it.

Next time we meet, we're friends."

Habit:

"Repetition deadens awareness.

Repetition deadens awareness.

Break the glass.

Break the glass.

Don't think twice, it's all right."

(I think I mentioned it's "of a period"...extra points for finding all the Dylan, Beatles and Rolling Stones nods in the text)

Mindfulness:

"Pay attention; that's always good advice. It's amazing

how much frustration can be avoided and how much joy and aware-

ness gained just by paying attention, to yourself and the people

and the world around you, wherever you may be.

It's the greatest show on earth, and it's happening right

here right now!

The present is always more interesting than the future or the

past."

And more:

"The affirmation of one's own life -- the acceptance of one's

destiny as it manifests itself in each moment -- is the supreme

act of faith.

It's incredibly fucking easy.

It's a hell of a commitment."

As I said, perhaps this book is too much of a "woo-woo" relic for most and is best left to 19-year-olds on the road to adventure, but then again perhaps not. If you are a sucker for pithy aphorisms (there are a hundred coffee mugs in the text ready to be printed "Abandon all security in exchange for life.") or on a positive-vibes reading protocol (there are worse ways to fill the time), Williams' Das Energi is worth the read. At the very least, you can enjoy a quick trip to a 70s self-help mindset vacation!

"Come on in; the water's fine.

He who hesitates is lost.

He who chooses life is found."