been reading "The Way of the Wild Heart", by John Eldredge. it's a sequel of sorts to "Wild at Heart", which is a book written by the same guy some years ago.
It's a book for men, and I think that alot of what he writes is spot on. About men running from challenges that seem too big for them, about men and their refusal to approach people for help (the lost-and-refuse-to-ask-for-directions cliche), about their non-relationships with their own fathers and how this transmits down the generations.
He talks how each man needs a mentor, a 'sifu', a father figure to guide him. not just to teach him how, but to stand alongside him, watch him as he tries something new, to give approval, encouragement, feedback. something which i am particularly sensitive to, and which i try consciously to do, because i thought it lacking in my own life.
he talks about the different stages in a man's life, and how many of the crisis' that face men as they get older is a throwback in some sense to stages of their life that had been abruptly cut short. it spoke to me so strongly that i can even remember the stages without needing to think too hard about it - it seems almost intuitive. beloved son, cowboy, warrior, lover, king, sage. it helps that he draws examples from classic literature (LotR again!!) as well as more contemporary offerings (The Lion King and many other movies I've never watched).
There's a ladies version too, apparently. Co-authored by Stasi Eldredge (his wife). Should be an interesting read... won't mind finding out how women work. :)
