When Friday comes I like to check out the topics that are suggested by the admin of the Weekend Experiences community, Galen. I have to confess that I don't always actively participate, unfortunately. This can sound just like an excuse, but it must be because the weekend is the only free time (but actually not completely free as there is always some lesson or a gig - that is a regular thing on Sundays) I could spend with the family or friends if they stop by, in combination with some outdoor activities.
Sometimes it would be just cool to find time for a relaxing activity of doing almost nothing but giving food for our soul and mind. A concert, for example, like it happened yesterday. Or reading a book, which I do but at a very slow pace. At least it happens with this book I am reading right now. The choice, by Edith Eger. I read it in Spanish so it has a different translation (La bailarina de Auschwitz).
It was a gift from my son, a few months ago. You see how slowly I am reading it... as it is not a book you would grab and read it in two days. You can do it, of course, it has around 400 pages which is not that much. But it is not the kind of story that you would like to read until the end at once. It should be consumed slowly, in little parts, think about the things you read and reflect, digest, or relate with your own thoughts and life circumstances.
I am not sure if it was a coincidence or if we should give it a more important meaning, but last week, while I was in Poland, in Krakow I saw this book in a bookstore. Without knowing it. I spotted it afterwards, looking at the photo in my phone gallery. The book I wanted to focus on while taking this photo was The Pianist, a story I "watched" as a movie. But when my eyes went to the left and started reading the titles I saw the name of the writer - psychologist, Edith Eger. And exactly the book I am currently reading!! The choice.
And just by that one, another surprise. Viktor Frankl and his book Man's Search For Meaning, a book I read a few years ago and through which I learned about logotherapy for the first time. Based on his own experience surviving the Holocaust, in the concentration camp Auschwitz. And once again, it was not a book you would just read because of the story itself, as why would you want to travel in your mind to a terrible place like a concentration camp in the Second World War? It's about the message, that you should find meaning to be able to survive. Through his book, I understood that the only thing no one can take away from you is your attitude on how you would face even the most severe things, like death itself, and find meaning even in that "simple" act of surviving. Even if you can't change the circumstances you can choose your attitude.
The book I am reading right now is based on a similar belief. No one can take away what you put in your mind, and even if you are imprisoned or you find yourself in an extremely difficult situation you can choose to be free in your mind. It can happen that we imprison our minds actually, with traumas, pain, wrong decisions, etc. It creates wounds. The healing process is long, but acceptance, forgiveness and a lot of work on ourselves can be the key. Well, this is just my conclusion as I still haven't reached the end of the book, and I already want to start reading it over again. There are books you can read a few times, and each time find a deeper meaning and additional message you didn't see before.
That is why I am reading this one at this very slow pace, as after every page I can stop and reflect on the message for several days. I hope I didn't make spoilers with this book... Not even the life experience of Edith Eger is what should make us wish to read this book. Just the fact that each of us, coping with so many different circumstances, can find hope and a way to guide ourselves to that peace of mind. Maybe again just a coincidence, that the signature in many of my posts is exactly this one, peace of mind above all?
