Boomeritis

It is so good to be back here. It is lovely to have a wonderful vacation and have my satisfying life waiting for me at home. I am really blessed. I love writing this blog. It gives me such a great opportunity to integrate what I am learning and to share it with you.
I have been reading the novel Boomeritis by Ken Wilbur. He is a very wise scholar/mystic. I went to the library and it jumped off of the shelf. I love when that happens. Wilbur's non-fiction books have been hard for me to decipher lately so I was excited to read his novel. I like reading Wilbur's theories of spiral dynamics within the context of a story.This is a zany and juicy journey of consciousness seen through the eyes of a twentysometing son of two flower children. Boomeritis is the concept that many baby boomers are higly developed and also very narcissistic. The book speaks of the need to move beyond the Me generation to a more complete embracing of all of the stages of human development. What he calls Integral Transformation Practice is a method to practice developing further. That is the idea of exercising on all four levels: physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. It really resonates with me because my work, life and website are about, Opening to all that you are in body mind life and spirit. www.andreasilver.net
Physically it is suggested to look at what you eat and how you move your body around. Emotional exercise is to pay attention to your emotional states while not identifying yourself as your emotions. Getting help in doing that can support emotional intelligence.It seems so important to be willing to be with the experience of our feelings underneath our stories about them. To exercise mentally it is suggested that reading books about integral ideas is useful. There are several suggested. As I read them I will recommend them.I'm not comfortable recommending books I haven't read. The idea is to read anything that expands your consciousness beyond the ego self.Anything that supports us in getting that we are more than our personalities is useful mental exercise. Spiritually meditation is suggested as the timeless and tested method of calming the mind and opening the heart. Meditation practice is spiritual exercise. What is beyond who we think ourselves to be? The book suggests that integral transformative practice will help us to find out.It is important to not be rigid about these forms of exercise and become compulsive about them.
In looking at those four areas of exercise I am glad to be more focused on reading again. I have weaned myself off of e-bay. For a while there I was wallowing in the world of things and feeling both drained and hyped up.I want to continue reading books that support my growth including novels. I can now trust myself to live my life and read a novel. For years reading a good novel meant I would be so obsessed I wanted to do nothing else but read. I would stay up too late and immerse myself in the world of the book.I am ready to practice being passionate and balanced about reading fiction. As you look at those four areas of exercise where do you want to focus your attention to expand the quality of your life? What is one area and one thing in that area you could look at right now?