Oft-Mentioned Resources for My Students

There is no doubt that I teach my mythology and philosophy classes with a heavy emphasis on personal meaning and relevance.

One of the reasons I enjoy being an adjunct rather than a full professor is because I am able to bring more "real world" experience to the classroom, hopefully to the benefit of the students, who must experience real challenges outside the shelter of the campus.

My own life experience, and the testimony of the many students whom I have had the honor to know and converse with about their own challenges, shows that life is sometimes a disorienting, difficult and dark journey. Many students, whether new to school, or returning, bring their own amazing, illuminating stories of struggle and personal growth.

I am deeply humbled by the bond I have formed with these students during the past 15 years as an adjunct. (I think after all these years that this is the only job I do anywhere near well.)

In the course of our discussions, I have often mentioned resources for them to consult. But not so often listed them. I thought I would capture a few of them here:

The Artist's Way - The official site of Julia Cameron and her important work about creativity and psychological growth. When I experience particularly dark emotions, the practice of her "morning pages" (at any hour) is very helpful in a way I cannot explain at a rational level.

Care of the Soul -- Official site of Thomas Moore, whose work I always find deeply reflective and meaningful.

In particular, I recommend his wonderful book, Dark Nights of the Soul. I have been listening to this book on audio again, and it is amazing how different sections of it are even more important to me now after teaching my mythology class. I have taught the mythology class unconsciously using Moore's expanded idea of the "liminal" experience and rites of passage; both he and I being heavily influenced by the work of anthropologist Victor Turner. All of life contains times of disorientation, sometimes at intense levels. This is not theoretical darkness. It is unique darkness for your own life, and it will hurt. From this idea and experience I have formulated my own humble notion of "generative darkness," into which we reach as we stand at its perimeter, to pull out as if from a grab bag, some great gift for the next phase of our life. (Moore's comments on sentimentality in religion have also given me new concepts with which to frame my own disorientation and unhappiness with the "sentimentality" practiced by those who chose to interpret my mother's tragic death for me, and who choose to avert their eyes from certain dark aspects of reality highlighted by the likes of Darwin and Schopenhauer.)

MichaelGelb.com -- website of author Michael Gelb, whose work had a profound influence on my during my darkest days at Computer Associates, a company where the delta between the teachings on management and the actual culture, at that time, was at least a light year.

In particular, Gelb's book "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci" opened my mind to the notion that we swim in a vast sea of life variables, many of which we are free to take notice of and act upon if we simply choose to. (WWLD? -- What would Leonardo do?)

Speaking of Computer Associates' dysfunctional culture, Jeff Gee was a good-natured teacher there who helped me survive the place as long as I did. His book "Super Service" was just one of those works that again taught me to become aware of the control I had over so much of my life.

For the theoretically minded, who like to take a structured, abstract approach to their own actions, there is no greater work than "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," by Stephen Covey. Again, in an unexplainable moment of serendipity, the worst boss I ever had sent me to a management class where this book was only casually mentioned. I sought it out, and it completely changed my life. Its first chapter on being "proactive" is now required reading for my philosophy students.

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck -- the ancient lesson that life must be difficult if we are to grow, taught in a modern context.

Man's Search for Meaning - by Viktor Frankl. The great work about his survival in a Nazi concentration camp and the lessons he derived from it, which would form the basis for his theory of "logotherapy." (He has a great influence on Covey.)

Learned Optimism - an important work about cognitive therapy by Martin Seligman. His formulation of pessimism as based upon judgments we choose to make (or not make) that problems are "pervasive, permanent and personal" is, well, powerful.

The Soul's Code by James Hillman. A fascinating reflection on destiny and character, rooted in the ideas of Jung and Plato. (He was the mentor of Thomas Moore.) I intend to read more of his works.

Creativity and Madness Blog - a new resource I am exploring of late, which features thoughtful posts and links to additional resources and events.