John Miedema

50 Books that Changed Me, Pt. 4, Creative Contribution

Kids are so clearly in a state of constant growth, in their bodies, in their powers, in their lifestyles. They look at their parents and think, borrring. Fortunately, life has never stopped being interesting. The rapid external change of childhood subsides, but the inner life takes on a whole new complexity. This period continues to be both creative and productive.

How Can I Help. I worked in the social services for a number of years. This book by Ram Dass was an excellent primer on compassion and real help. I learned how to really use group process from Shulman’s The Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, and Groups.

Books on feminism ranged from Andrea Dworkin’s Woman Hating to Naomi Wolf’s Fire with Fire, while I still enjoyed Robert Bly’s Iron John. A distaste for 90’s corporatism led to me Theodore Roszak’s Sources and Kirkpatrick Sales’ Rebels Against the Future. All of these books created a healthy identification with fringe dwellers. Allen Carr’s EasyWay proved that I could indeed quit smoking for good. I still count it as one of my greatest achievements.

A stint in health research got me weary of number crunching and I found my way into computer programming. It’s hard to name a particularly influential book in this period. The MSDN Library was a massive set of digital help files that I used extensively. The content was forgettable; the shift to digital was significant. I kept an eye out for more philosophical books on programming, e.g., Raymond’s The Cathedral and the Bazaar.

Life as a computer programmer for a multinational corporation took its psychic toll, and I found myself raising my kids on a hobby farm, tinkering with small engines. The garden was occasionally mystical, and I ate up back-to the-land books: Living the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing, Merilyn Simonds The Holding, and various books on weeding and composting. I learned that most of agriculture is the battle with weeds. Much as I toyed with the idea, I was not a farmer. I worked out another path, librarianship. Any bibliophile will love the story of Pico in Keith Miller’s The Book of Flying.

Buddhism without Beliefs. Stephen Batchelor revives the authentic spirit of Buddhism, asserting that the more fantastic claims about reincarnation and karma can be unloaded for greater insight. The modest book is a refreshing retake on Buddhism, free of jargon and ideology. It is a good expression of my current worldview.

16 books. That makes a total of 50.