A Theory of Everything. That sounds promising!

I know I said I’d write a few initial thoughts about a book BEFORE I start reading it, but I have a confession. Yesterday, I just wasn’t in the mood to write anything. In fact, I was considering giving up the whole enterprise, again. There are days, many, many days, that I just don’t see the point of any of this. And I spend a lot of time at it, time I could be using to things that are more…productive? Like painting the house or making those quilts that I told my sons I’d make.

I love to read, and I love keeping track of what I’m reading. It’s fun, for me anyway. I’m not sure anyone else in the world needs to come along for this ride, but what if one person does want to? I need a better attitude. I can’t let a lack of praise and applause stop me from doing what I love!

Once again, I’m back at it and A Theory of Everything might be encouraging. Like I said, I started reading it yesterday and today I’m already two hours and 58 pages into it. The first chapter was interesting, but I’m getting bogged down. It’s a little repetitive and confusing, but it’s still interesting, so I’ll keep going.

The idea of levels of development isn’t new to me. It’s something most parents know something about, right? I hope. Children progress through their development pretty much on their own with some support form a stable family. I also believe we continue through this development all our lives. But this book looks like it’s going to say that generations of people are also moving through these stages and each generation builds on the other. Fascinating.

As usual, I did a quick search of the internet for information about the author. The first thing I thought when I started to read the book was, “I wonder if this guy is still alive and, if so, what does he think now?” This book was written in 2000. Twenty-one years later…eek…things have really changed. Internet communication has grown exponentially, and I feel like we’re even farther from actually connecting with each other than we ever have been.

I found Ken Wilber’s website, but it wasn’t very helpful. I found a nice overview of Integral Theory at Daily Evolver. And an interesting article by Mark Manson (another my favorite authors) called The Rise and Fall of Ken Wilber.

Anywho…looking forward to the rest of this interesting book. Have you read it? It’s available at Thriftbooks.com if you want to read along with me. I’d love to hear your thoughts!