Happiness Is.
Happiness Is. - Unexpected Answers to Practical Questions in Curious Times
by Shawn Christopher Shea, M.D.
Published by Health Communications Inc.
Category: Non-fiction / Self-help
340 pages; ISBN: 0-7573-0066-9
Rating: 8/10
Review
"Happiness Is." subtitled "Unexpected Answers to Practical Questions in Curious Times" by Dr. Shawn Christopher Shea, M.D., psychiatrist, is not a self-help book in the traditional sense.
The correct categorization is Philosophy / Spirituality, and it is a well written exploration of what makes us happy that is fun to read and at places funny, yet manages to address two key philosophical questions - What is the nature of Happiness? and, What is the structure of human nature that determines the extent of that happiness? - in a compelling fashion. Of course, all books that help us understand our true nature are self-help books!
The author adopts a systematic approach to defining the problem, analyses data, picks up bits and pieces of the jig saw puzzle, and then more importantly, validates the various premises with real life data and comes up with a practical workable blueprint.
Dr.Shea's model of human nature - the human matrix - is not really a new concept per se having been part and parcel of eastern philosophy and western mysticism for centuries, but his presentation is refreshing and provocative. He deftly creates a picture of human nature that resonates well with modern sensibilities and science. Dr. Shea describes human beings as constantly evolving moments in time where five interacting systems - our biologies, our psychological perceptions, our interpersonal relationships, environmental conditions, and spiritualities interact to determine a new being with every passing second. I would add that there are, in reality, probably many more elements to the human matrix but these are the five most prominent and they will do for now.
If you are looking for a book that, in a concise language, answers specific practical questions
you may be mildly disappointed by the storytelling and literary wordiness that distinguishes this book. Dr.Shea is quite clear in his Introduction that this is not meant to be a self-help book "filled with case studies and statistics. I believe in such books, and, indeed, have spent much of my career writing them. But the goal of this book is not proof. It is provocation. It is an invitation to think creatively, to view our existence through a different lens."
Thus "Happiness Is." is one of those few books of applied philosophy - that explore human nature in a compelling way via the use of vivid, sometimes quirky, and often memorable stories of what it is to be a human being in a universe that is at once both magnificent and overwhelming.
The examples chosen by Dr.Shea from his extensive reading (including in his own words, historical mystics such as Julian of Norwich, modern philosophical renegades such as Alan Watts, and contemporary humanitarians such as Paul Farmer the subject of Tracy Kidder's recent bestseller "Mountains Beyond Mountains") are described with a freshness and in contemporary language. Perhaps even more striking are his tales culled from his extensive clinical practice (taking care to protect the patient's privacy as usual) and from his everyday encounters.
The resulting tales are quite appealing and at places powerfully moving. If possible, see page 164, where a watchmaker named Bob finds his life's work of model airplanes all smashed to bits by floodwaters and then looks to his wife Judy whose eyes give him the power to smile through his veil of tears. She smiles back with a quietly intuited understanding of his loss and with unspoken support. It moved me to tears. There are several more examples in the book like that of Nick, the 8-year-old boy troubled by severe OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and many more equally vivid tales. Dr. Shea is at his best, when he is telling his stories, and has a good knack of weaving the seemingly disparate threads of the stories into a comprehensive, elegant, and useful understanding of the nature of happiness and the structure of human nature itself.
The book is easy to read, but is not to be read at a fast pace like a novel. I would recommend that you read it at your natural pace first. I think you will then find yourself returning again and again to come back for specific solutions, in a fashion characteristic of those books that have moved us deeply.
Perhaps the book would have benefited with an index. It was certainly a bit irritating to have to flip through several chapters to relocate the pages where Bob and Judy's story is told. On the other hand Dr. Shea provides a comprehensive bibliography, whose rich selections, may be useful if you want to go deeper into specific aspects of spirituality or even some of the historical curiosities that fill the pages of the book. The book has a total of 18 Chapters, in the typical eastern tradition!
I couldn't agree with some of the points made by Dr.Shea. He clearly emphasizes the essentially interconnectedness of everything (quantum theory is coming up often in my reading now a days). He also emphasizes this integration through his robust synthesis of Eastern and Western mysticism. But Dr.Shea seems to focus a bit too much on providing prescriptions for the individual to use to help solve the day to day problems of uncovering happiness. Thus he inadvertently slips into an acceptance of the illusion of individual independence. I also think that he would have done better to show in more detail how unhappiness and pain are useful, indeed necessary forces for helping an individual realize his/her true nature, which is Universal, which is beyond space and time. Till then, unhappiness is a good driving force to push the individual along the path that he/she is destined to travel.
Despite these concerns, I liked the book, that overall, is filled with provocative ideas, a fairly fresh definition of happiness, and a masterful use of storytelling to create philosophical intrigue.
The book has a bright blue dust jacket that pulls one into its pages, which are smartly designed and pleasing to read. In short, the book is not only well written, it is well produced, but the editing could certainly have been better. It tended to obscure the flow of ideas at some places and at places, the text tended to verbosity.
Dr. Shea comes across as a refreshingly warm and sincere psychiatrist, who has created a book of philosophy that is both fun to read and hard to forget. The stories of his patients will return to you over and over at times when their wisdom may prove most valuable. I would certainly recommend this book if you are serious about finding happiness. The book, whose ultimate message of compassion is sorely needed in our contemporary times, should appeal to a wide cross section of the reading public.
by Shawn Christopher Shea, M.D.
Published by Health Communications Inc.
Category: Non-fiction / Self-help
340 pages; ISBN: 0-7573-0066-9
Rating: 8/10
Review
"Happiness Is." subtitled "Unexpected Answers to Practical Questions in Curious Times" by Dr. Shawn Christopher Shea, M.D., psychiatrist, is not a self-help book in the traditional sense.
The correct categorization is Philosophy / Spirituality, and it is a well written exploration of what makes us happy that is fun to read and at places funny, yet manages to address two key philosophical questions - What is the nature of Happiness? and, What is the structure of human nature that determines the extent of that happiness? - in a compelling fashion. Of course, all books that help us understand our true nature are self-help books!
The author adopts a systematic approach to defining the problem, analyses data, picks up bits and pieces of the jig saw puzzle, and then more importantly, validates the various premises with real life data and comes up with a practical workable blueprint.
Dr.Shea's model of human nature - the human matrix - is not really a new concept per se having been part and parcel of eastern philosophy and western mysticism for centuries, but his presentation is refreshing and provocative. He deftly creates a picture of human nature that resonates well with modern sensibilities and science. Dr. Shea describes human beings as constantly evolving moments in time where five interacting systems - our biologies, our psychological perceptions, our interpersonal relationships, environmental conditions, and spiritualities interact to determine a new being with every passing second. I would add that there are, in reality, probably many more elements to the human matrix but these are the five most prominent and they will do for now.
If you are looking for a book that, in a concise language, answers specific practical questions
you may be mildly disappointed by the storytelling and literary wordiness that distinguishes this book. Dr.Shea is quite clear in his Introduction that this is not meant to be a self-help book "filled with case studies and statistics. I believe in such books, and, indeed, have spent much of my career writing them. But the goal of this book is not proof. It is provocation. It is an invitation to think creatively, to view our existence through a different lens."
Thus "Happiness Is." is one of those few books of applied philosophy - that explore human nature in a compelling way via the use of vivid, sometimes quirky, and often memorable stories of what it is to be a human being in a universe that is at once both magnificent and overwhelming.
The examples chosen by Dr.Shea from his extensive reading (including in his own words, historical mystics such as Julian of Norwich, modern philosophical renegades such as Alan Watts, and contemporary humanitarians such as Paul Farmer the subject of Tracy Kidder's recent bestseller "Mountains Beyond Mountains") are described with a freshness and in contemporary language. Perhaps even more striking are his tales culled from his extensive clinical practice (taking care to protect the patient's privacy as usual) and from his everyday encounters.
The resulting tales are quite appealing and at places powerfully moving. If possible, see page 164, where a watchmaker named Bob finds his life's work of model airplanes all smashed to bits by floodwaters and then looks to his wife Judy whose eyes give him the power to smile through his veil of tears. She smiles back with a quietly intuited understanding of his loss and with unspoken support. It moved me to tears. There are several more examples in the book like that of Nick, the 8-year-old boy troubled by severe OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and many more equally vivid tales. Dr. Shea is at his best, when he is telling his stories, and has a good knack of weaving the seemingly disparate threads of the stories into a comprehensive, elegant, and useful understanding of the nature of happiness and the structure of human nature itself.
The book is easy to read, but is not to be read at a fast pace like a novel. I would recommend that you read it at your natural pace first. I think you will then find yourself returning again and again to come back for specific solutions, in a fashion characteristic of those books that have moved us deeply.
Perhaps the book would have benefited with an index. It was certainly a bit irritating to have to flip through several chapters to relocate the pages where Bob and Judy's story is told. On the other hand Dr. Shea provides a comprehensive bibliography, whose rich selections, may be useful if you want to go deeper into specific aspects of spirituality or even some of the historical curiosities that fill the pages of the book. The book has a total of 18 Chapters, in the typical eastern tradition!
I couldn't agree with some of the points made by Dr.Shea. He clearly emphasizes the essentially interconnectedness of everything (quantum theory is coming up often in my reading now a days). He also emphasizes this integration through his robust synthesis of Eastern and Western mysticism. But Dr.Shea seems to focus a bit too much on providing prescriptions for the individual to use to help solve the day to day problems of uncovering happiness. Thus he inadvertently slips into an acceptance of the illusion of individual independence. I also think that he would have done better to show in more detail how unhappiness and pain are useful, indeed necessary forces for helping an individual realize his/her true nature, which is Universal, which is beyond space and time. Till then, unhappiness is a good driving force to push the individual along the path that he/she is destined to travel.
Despite these concerns, I liked the book, that overall, is filled with provocative ideas, a fairly fresh definition of happiness, and a masterful use of storytelling to create philosophical intrigue.
The book has a bright blue dust jacket that pulls one into its pages, which are smartly designed and pleasing to read. In short, the book is not only well written, it is well produced, but the editing could certainly have been better. It tended to obscure the flow of ideas at some places and at places, the text tended to verbosity.
Dr. Shea comes across as a refreshingly warm and sincere psychiatrist, who has created a book of philosophy that is both fun to read and hard to forget. The stories of his patients will return to you over and over at times when their wisdom may prove most valuable. I would certainly recommend this book if you are serious about finding happiness. The book, whose ultimate message of compassion is sorely needed in our contemporary times, should appeal to a wide cross section of the reading public.
posted by S.V.Swamy | 9:01 PM
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