I believe most people have a pursuit that makes them blissful, but making a living that way isn't always easy to conceptualize. It's easy to get mired down in a job that pays the bills, and that looks good on the resume. If you are in that place, this book may help you to move on. I turn to it when I am tempted to to settle, and I have found that its advice rings true. One step is titheing, which I never would have believed if I hadn't done it a few times. When you're down to your last money, give 10% to charity, Morissey advises, and you will attract money into your life. I've done this, and each time within three days money had appeared in my life from an unforseen source. I'm not sure why this works, but I have found that it does.
Much of this advice can be found elsewhere; it is a general "think positive" type of book. I like this one in particular, though, because Morrissey is a dynamic personality. She was a teenage bride and mother, and has built an impressive career based on the principles outlined. She writes in a simple, well organized way that is easy to digest.
What makes up for the redundant nature of the self-help genre is that authors often weave this standard message of empowerment into the retelling of their own struggles. And, of course, if their struggles mirror yours then you feel you have found a sympathetic mind. "They've been here too, and they got out! Maybe I can too," you'll think. And herein lies the key to my relative indifference to BUILDING YOUR FIELD OF DREAMS. It's not so much that the message of empowerment is unoriginal, but that as a twentysomething male I simply cannot relate to the idea that an out-of-wedlock pregnancy is terribly controversial or could destroy a person's life, as Morrissey writes it did for her. Certainly this was taboo in the 1950s and 60s, but growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, I have trouble believing that unwed teenage pregnancy was ever an issue. It's almost the norm these days. I can't relate to Mary's experience. (That's not to say that Mary Manin Morrissey has not helped me. In fact, her work has helped me greatly in my life ... by pointing me in the direction of other spiritual paths and teachers. It was almost a decade ago that I was introduced to A COURSE IN MIRACLES and Arun Gandhi, the Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, at Mary Manin Morrissey's church called Living Enrichment Center, headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. Both the Course and Arun Gandhi have remained important in my life.)
So, perhaps it's a generational issue. The message of BUILDING YOUR FIELD OF DREAMS is universal, but the form - Mary Manin Morrissey's personal story - is not. If you are over 40 you may find Mary's story can relate to your experience. If you are under 40, you may need to look elsewhere. And, who knows, Mary Manin Morrissey's work may be able to point you in the direction of what you are looking for. That's what her work did for me.
Thanks Mary,
Andrew Parodi