Favorite Books

You Are Psychic, Pete A. Sanders, Jr.

Written by an MIT researcher who investigated parapsychological phenomenon, this is perhaps my favorite book of all time. Summary: "We all have varying degrees of skills in using our Psychic Reception Areas--eyes, ears, feelings, scanning, spirit--and we can learn to use them more effectively."

Natural Capitalism, Paul Hawken, Amory & L. Hunter Lovins.

Written by three brilliant ecologist/business-people of our time, this book is chocked full of excellent examples of ecological stewardship. They present easily readable information about our environment, how we've polluted it, and what we can do to live more sustainably. Their fundamental tenet is that we ought to be managing natural resources like other business capital (currently we often view them as infinite sources, of no cost to doing business). They show how to make more money by being ecologically responsible. The Lovins lead the Rocky Mountain Institute, a think-tank/consulting firm in Snowmass, Colorado. Summary: "Throw it away? There is no away. Here is a better way!!"

Your Money, or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robbins

The authors help you to determine the netamount of money you make per hour, which is wages minus taxes minus expenses (such as transportation, clothing, recreation/decompression). A real eye-opener, especially for people who may think they're making a lot of money but are not happy with what it requires or what they're doing with it. Summary: "If you spend less, and only on things that make you happy, you don't have to work and earn as much. Spend on meaningful things...only!"

Holy Bible, by multiple authors, and edited highly (& sometimes badly).

I've read the Old Testament once (almost), and the New Testament 4 times (3-1/2 actually). When I was reading the NT the fourth time, I realized that I could summarize the most important parts very succinctly:

• Learn about God:
  • By searching, and then assessing each concept's validity by its "fruits"—the results it produces. (Matthew 7:20)
  • By what is "written on your heart". (Romans 2:15 ?) To me, it's my intuition and my sense of fairness/goodness/etc.
• Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40) If you don't love yourself, you can't really love your fellow beings very deeply either.
• Use your "talents". (Matthew 25; especially vs. 14-46) "Talent" is a double-entendre word connoting "ability" as well as "big hunk of gold". I believe that using my talents for the benefit of all is the best way to show gratitude to God.

UnJobbing: The Guide to Adult Liberation, by Michael Fogler.

Fogler also promotes the "conserver" versus the "consumer" lifestyle. He gives practical ways to reduce expenses, save money, find other ways of earning a living than the 9-5/Monday-Friday/12-months-a-year grind. Summary: quoted from Ellen Goodman, p.1: "'Normal' is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so that you can pay for the clothes, the car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it." Fogler shows how to break out of this trap.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kirosawa

An excellent guide to rethinking how you spend your money. Kirosawa's real father (poor dad) was highly educated but had more debts when he died than when he started. His rich dad (a mentor) was more of an entrepreneur, who taught Robert about how to take a large part of his earnings and invest it in places which would return money. Great story with lots of helpful financial advice. There are also several other books in this series. (Check your local bookstore.) Summary: "Investments put money into your pockets, and expenses take it out. Many people mistake expenses for investments (new cars, large houses, most jewelry)."

Ceremonies for Change, by Lynda S. Paladin.

Written by the widow of half-Navajo artist, guide, and shaman, this book weaves the use of ceremony into identifying meaning, participating in life more fully, sharing our stories, and celebrating important events and transitions in our lives. Summary: "The earth and our paths on it are sacred, so recognize and show gratitude for meaningful events and people in our lives."

(To be continued.)

Favorite Websites

Rocky Mountain Institute,

a consulting office in Snowmass, Colorado run by two of my favorite ecologists. They show businesses how to make more money by being ecologically responsible.

World Game

website that provides ways to get a high-level view of the world. This group creates resources for educators and students, such as global-enterprise simulations, to help them widen their understanding of the world's resources, problems, and options for managing them all. Also check out their real-time "worldometers" on several of our global resources (such as population & energy production).

Essential Links

a website with links to all sorts of useful information.

(To be continued.)

Favorite Role Models

Buckminster Fuller

not just a brilliant scientist & inventor, but one who saw interrelationships among science, nature, and people--a true "comprehensivist".

Henry David Thoreau

a simple, yet profound, man who lived in the early 19th century, and wrote Walden and Civil Disobedience while spending years creating a homestead on property owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson (another of my favorite persons, mostly a poet/philosopher).

Winona la Duke

a Native American woman, the former vice-presidential running mate of Ralph Nader, another of my favorite people. I met her after she spoke at CSU in 1996, and I still am inspired by her profound talk that evening.

Rich Feller

the Colorado State University professor who most helped me to identify some of my abilities, and to believe I can do great things.

(To be continued.)

Favorite Family & Friends