| Description |
xvii, 493 pages ; 24 cm |
| Summary |
"Rediscover--or discover for the first time--the things that make you passionate in life. Vital Signs is about what inspires passion and what defeats it. How we lose it and how we get it back. And, ultimately, it's about the endless yet endlessly fruitful tug-of-war between freedom and domestication, the wild in us and the tame, our natural selves and our conditioned selves. Each chapter in Gregg Levoy's Vital Signs contains a core sample, an intimate biography of one of the strategies we employ to gain or regain our passion. The book also affirms the importance of courageous inquiry into our dispassion--where we're numb, depressed, stuck, bored--so readers can recognize and change these tendencies in themselves. Vital Signs is the map to a life filled with wondrous, satisfying experiences and the fulfillment of your soul's journey."--Provided by publisher. |
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"Vital Signs is about what inspires passion and what defeats it. How we lose it and how we get it back. And, ultimately, it's about the endless yet endlessly fruitful tug-of-war between freedom and domestication, the wild in us and the tame, our natural selves and our conditioned selves"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Contents |
1. Eyes wide open: cultivating wonder : Becoming adult-erated ; Keeping the fires burning ; The envy of angels: everyday awe ; Thunderstruck: on passion and perspective ; Trading faith for wonder ; Captivated or held captive: wonder and credulity -- 2. Questing: the happiness of pursuit : A revolt against the fixed ; Settling for less ; No cure for curiosity ; The power of walkabout ; The tonic of boredom ; Sacred drift ; Love's driving force ; Something you cannot possibly do -- 3. Call of the wild : What fights the saddle ; Breaking the spell ; The wilds of meditation ; The wilderness effect ; The tame and the wild ; Controlling interests ; Wired for wildness ; Raising Cain ; All hail the beast within -- 4. A spark needs a gap: love and passion : The logic of passion ; A marriage of sweet and bitter ; Frustration attraction ; The other in another ; Shame: the hole in wholeness ; The fading of passion ; Making love: why passion takes work ; Adrenaline makes the heart grow fonder -- 5. The freedoms of expression : The hunder to make contact ; Holding your horses: the force of inhibition ; Cleaning your caches ; Busting the spirit's sleep ; Setting your soul to rights ; The link between revealing and healing ; The dangers of overexpression ; The physics of communion ; IWannaBeFamous.com: the commodification of passion ; The social version of love -- 6. The passion is in the risk : The mach 1 experience ; A ropes course for the soul ; The tiger and the cage: intelligent risk-taking ; Playing the edge ; A matter of life and depth ; Ready, fire, aim ; The enzyme of our passions. |
| Subject |
Interest (Psychology)
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Curiosity.
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Creative ability.
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Emotions.
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Self-realization.
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SELF-HELP / Aging.
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FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Aging.
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| ISBN |
9780399163234 (hardback) |
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0399163239 (hardback) |
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