Sushi at my regular spot across the street was delicious as usual. Danny and I had interesting discussions about books, family, culture, politics, and my lengthy/complicated explanation of The Time Traveler's Wife movie plot line. I excused myself and moseyed over to the little girls room. As I was heading back to my table I see a man reading over dinner. The chopsticks in his right hand maneuvered morsels into his mouth while his left hand pinned down his book.
Mark is reading "Intimacy" by Osho. It's a non-fiction, self-help book on how to trust yourself and the other person in relationships. The book speaks of meditating and looking within yourself. "One must first master being intimate with themselves before they can be intimate with another."
Interesting story on how he came about this book. About a year or two ago he was eating at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant on La Brea. "There were all these different books around the restaurant and this book happened to be one that was laying around. Flash forward a couple years and I am at the Bodhi Tree bookstore on Melrose (by Urth Cafe). I happened to be browsing around for books and spot "Intimacy". I was drawn to it because I had recognized it from that vegetarian restaurant. I picked up the book and it looked interesting so I decided to buy it." Mark tells me that it's definitely a quick read "but it's turning out to be a book that I would want to reread and study again and again."
Non-fiction, historical books and legal history are Mark's genres of choice. "I'm also big on alot of metaphysical books." His favourite book of all time would have to be "You Are God" by Mary. "Yes, it is just by 'Mary'. No last name. Just Mary. That's all." Upon hearing that I brought up Stranger in a Strange Land (since I just finished it for book club). I told Mark about the phrase in the book: "Thou Art God", giving him a bit of background on what it meant in the book's context, or rather, what I "grokked" it to be. I also gave him a bit of background on the storyline itself and the different thought-provoking concepts that the reader encounters. This piqued his interest so I wrote down the title and author on a piece of paper and fully endorsed it!
When asked what book he would write he was taken aback. I was met with a big "Wow." He sat back in his chair, stared off yet one could see that he was sifting through various ideas in his head." He looked back up at me, finger up as if putting me on hold. "There is just so much I could write about. But I would like to write about my personal experiences and interactions. Yeah, I suppose it would be like a memoir. But I'd like my book to be more of a self-help book drawing from my own personal life experiences. It would be a book of life lessons."
What self-help topic would you write about?
