All I can say about this book, it’s a page turner. I was watching one of my favorite YouTubers Shameless Maya and she mentioned how much this book shifted her. She had decided to make the move from LA, to Canada and eventually Sweden where she bought a house with the love of her life. This all happened during the Pandemic. She and I share similar ideals about said pandemic, which is why I trusted if she was as moved by this book. I would be too.
The day after my 33rd birthday, I hustled to Barnes and Nobles and grabbed the only copy they had. I had already felt The First Insight manifesting. “The First Insight…we are experiencing these mysterious coincidences, and even if we don’t understand them yet, we know they are real.” I grabbed that book and took myself out to breakfast. I love eating out alone.
I sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed how this book had me at the edge of my seat with each word, sentence, paragraph and eventually chapter. This book somewhat reminds me of The Alchemist, in that it takes you on a spiritual journey through stories that don’t feel entirely far from becoming a possibility or feeling like they can be real. Without giving away the entire storyline I’ll give a quick rundown. A man is contacted by a longtime old friend. They meet up for dinner. She is on a journey to discover all the Insights within a manuscript by setting out on a Journey to Peru. This was not truly his Journey, but it somehow becomes his by way of synchronicity…which is what this book is all about. As he takes on this Journey himself, he’s discovering the Insights by various means, slowly weaving together their meaning and what implications his life from childhood have contributed to where he is today. The story is met with many twists and turns and the church is concerned that if this manuscript gets out and into “the wrong hands” which is basically humankind, it will turn people away from the church. However, as I read this book and you will discover if you do too…that idea couldn’t be further from the truth.
This book offered a lot of reflection points that were a result of the 9 Insights.
My favorite excerpts:
“Humans link up energy and then fight over who is going to control it” (pp 88)
This one makes me think about times we are in conversation where there seems to be debate energy. A conversation that is without competition of energy seemingly flows, but where two people are unconsciously trying to dominate the energy to pull the discussion into the direction they wish to see it go, is what this passage means to me. It made me think, to what extent do I truly listen without regard to waiting for an opportunity to sway the discussion or control it. Truly, am I really hearing the other person or merely waiting to control and dominate discussion.
”But the only reason that any conflict can’t be immediately settled is that one side is holding on to an irrational position for energy purposes” (pp 89)The passage above makes me think of conflicts and fights in relationship. I’m sure we’ve all been there, where you just can’t seem to reason with an individual because of the irrational position someone is holding onto. Until they get a hold of and become aware of their energy, it becomes impossible to go anywhere in such a disagreement or argument. “The role of love has been misunderstood for a long time. Love is not something we should do to be good or to make the world a better place out of some abstract moral responsibility, or because we should give up our hedonism. Connecting with energy feels like excitement, then euphoria, and then love. Finding enough energy to maintain that state of love certainly helps the world, but it most directly helps us. It is the most hedonistic thing we can do.” (pp 116)
The above just served as a reminder to me that we can’t love if we don’t have within us the energy to do so. We all know the old adage, you can’t fill someone’s cup from an empty well. This is same sentiment. We must learn to maintain our own energy on an ongoing basis so that we can truly love. That energy can be manifested in a multitude of ways. We can create and manifest that energy if we’re truly interested and the book offers ways to do so. “The first step in the process of getting clear, for each of us, is to bring our particular control drama into full consciousness” (pp126-127)
While there were many sections in this book I highlighted that gave me pause for reflection, it was this last one regarding control drama that set me on a path of my own pschoanalysis to discover how my own family dynamics from childhood might have contributed to how I respond to others. James Redfield touches on three in this book, and upon reading I was able to connect the dots in my own life. This book was rich with both psychological and spiritual wisdom. Reading it takes you beyond a storyline and inspires you to go inward and ponder for yourself how you can better contribute to a higher level of collective human consciousness.
I’ll leave you with this last quote I absolutely loved.
”The more beauty we can see, the more we evolve. The more we evolve, the higher we vibrate.” (pp 243)
My rating: 5/5
