The Book Thieves

Why Feeling Connected to the Things You Buy Is Natural

Read the article : https://bit.ly/2Yj6OOC [https://bit.ly/2Yj6OOC] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_articulista/ [https://www.instagram.com/_articulista/] With  a quick search through the web you can find several blog posts and  videos regarding the idea: “dispose of your stuff to be mentally free”.  Though there is a great deal of truth in this kind of narrative, I feel  compelled to examine such ideas deeper when I see only the one side of  the coin. So to explore the complexity of the matter, I have gathered three ideas of why we buy so much stuff and why it’s reasonable to connect with some things. I tried my best to embed several theories, both spiritual and scientific, to hopefully showcase both sides of the coin. IS OWNERSHIP AN ILLUSION? Eckhart Tolle [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle] describes ownership as a mental concept in which everyone agrees with  you that you have possession of a particular thing or service. For  example, you have paperwork to prove that you own or rent a house. In  case you persistently claim that you owned the apartment you rent, the  actual owner might laugh at you, thinking you are crazy. Ownership is like a system that is based on millions upon millions of agreements that people make with each other. But  the baseline of this extremely useful system consists of nothing more  substantial than stories we tell to each other and most importantly to  ourselves. That’s the point Tolle [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle] makes. The entanglement of self with things. The story that things are in a way part of who you are as a person. So this means that if you want to experience a lessened ego you’ll have to sell all your stuff? Well, it is not that simple.

Five mind-shifting stories from an Auschwitz Inmate

A book review for “Man’s search for meaning” Imagine  for a brief moment what it would be like to live in a concentration  camp. Your perspective of the world would change dramatically. Beyond  the 3 stages that the inmates experienced, Victor Frankl, in his book  “Man’s search for meaning” describes his 3-year experience as an inmate  coming from the perspective of a psychoanalyst. If  you have trouble imagining yourself as an inmate, the book contains  vivid descriptions of the mental and physical abuse that the inmates  suffered. > It  is extraordinary the numerous life lessons that this book provides.  Especially from a man who was walking almost barefoot in the snow,  working as a slave with one meal of soup (mainly boiled water), and  experienced torture in a mental as well as on a physical level. Entering  the reality of Auschwitz, human decency and the value of life was as  scarce as food and proper clothing. The inmate was being transformed  into a number (which was visible either in his uniform or jacket. The  sole purpose of the concentration camps was to take every ounce of any  inmate’s energy and then be disposed of him or her. Read the full article at https://bit.ly/2znXD60 [https://bit.ly/2znXD60]

These Three Life Lessons from the Book 1984 Will Intellectually Move You

In this story, I will “steal” the best ideas from the magnificent and enlightening book, 1984 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four] written by George Orwell [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell].  I’ll do my best to present and mix them with some of my personal  stories and correlate them with other fascinating ideas with the hope to  move you intellectually as well as practically, meaning some of the  ideas can be put to use effectively. If you are worried that by reading  this article I will “spoil” you the book’s plot for you, I assure you  that the fragments I used serve as a medium of comprehending the ideas  rather than providing information about the main character or the  overall story. Read the Medium story here  [https://medium.com/the-book-thieves/these-three-life-lessons-from-the-book-1984-will-intellectually-move-you-ba8e59c23445]