Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom by Robert Moss

Active Dreaming is more than just another book about lucid dreaming or dream interpretation. Moss takes the Aboriginal practices of his native Australia and develops a living practice wherein one treats the world, whether waking or sleeping, like an lucid dream.

Moss invites the readers to fully live their lives and to “wake up” through drumming circles, sharing and interpretation of dreams, choosing your names and how you define yourself, practicing mindful creativity, noticing synchronicities, journaling, storytelling, creative visualization (and more).

Some of the concepts in this book were a bit far out there- things like shared dreams or visions in which, theoretically, you invite another person into your dreamspace to help you address whatever is going on for you or instructions on how to start Dream Groups.

Active Dreaming is a call to action, but in so many directions that it is difficult to really know where to start. I think I’m going to cherry pick a few of Moss’s techniques and see how I do.

Robert Moss’s definition of Active Dreaming: “This approach includes paying attention to night dreams, but it is not only, or even essentially, about what happens at night. It is a method for conscious living. When you become an active dreamer, you’ll notice that the world speaks to you in a different way.” pg xii introduction

Here are some of the benefits of practicing Active Dreaming: “The journey opens gateways for soul recovery and the release of life blockages. It introduces and strengthens connections with the animal guardians and brings their vitality, tracking skills, and healing energies richly alive in the body. It encourages spontaneous art and creativity and offers rich personal mythology, which is healing in itself. Properly conducted, the journey raises a tremendous amount of life force and channels the movement of that energy into harmonious, unrestricted flow.” pg 98

And finally, a passage that really resonated with me: “You must know your story and tell your story and have your story received. … Learn to do that, and you can survive the worst nightmares of history and bring heart and healing to others…” pg 134

Tell your story. I can do that.

This review has really only touched the tip of the iceberg that is Active Dreaming. Read this book if you want to adjust the lens with which you perceive reality or if you just want to read a book that is completely different from anything else that you’ve ever read.

Robert Moss is not for everyone, but, if you can set aside any preconceived notions about what this book should be, I think that you’ll find at least some chapters that will speak to you.

If you’re looking for more spiritual books like this, look no further than another of Moss’s titles: The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse

Thanks for reading!

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This book is an absolutely magical re-telling of the story of Tiger Lily from Peter Pan. The narrator is the fairy, Tinker Bell.

I’ve always had a soft place in my heart for J. M.Barrie’s masterwork. Who among us hasn’t wanted to go to a place where you could remain young forever and never grow up?

Jodi Lynn Anderson writes that “never aging” magic of Neverland quite well: “Englanders had come to Neverland before. … The Englanders had the aging disease. As time went on they turned gray, and shrank, and, inexplicably, they died. It wasn’t that Neverlanders didn’t know anything about death, but not as a slow giving in, and certainly not an inevitability.” pg 13 (ebook)

Tiger Lily’s tribe may age, but how old they appear is contingent on something other than time. It’s curious and magical.

The lost boys come alive in this book with a wildness and unpredictability that I loved: “There was a joyfulness and- at the same time- a fragility about each of them. They were sloppy and uncared for and wildly alert and full of energy.” pg 61, ebook.

Despite their untamed natures, they are still children: “Straw beds had been separated haphazardly into different areas of the burrow, as if the boys hadn’t counted on wanting to live separately when they’d first built it, and only recently pushed themselves as far apart from each other as possible. Still, on one of the beds there was a worn home-sewn toy in the shape of a rabbit, and lying on a pillow, as if it had just been played with, a model of a ship.” pg 61, ebook.

Peter is the boy who has emotions but doesn’t understand them- perpetually young yet always on the verge of growing up.

He’s fiercely admired by his lost boys and, eventually, Tiger Lily: “Peter picked at his hangnail again. “Actually, I never get sad. It’s a waste of time, don’t you think?” Tiger Lily didn’t answer. She was impressed by the idea of deciding not to be sad. His words made him seem very strong. Impervious.” pg 67, ebook

Peter is still Peter in this tale. As far as girls go, he can be charming but also rude and aloof: “I think we could be good friends,” he said, falling into step with her. “It’s perfect because I wouldn’t fall in love with you, like I do with the mermaids. Girls always seem so exotic. But it would be okay with you, because you’re more like… you know. Not like a girl.” pg 77, ebook.

Tinker Bell was a sympathetic character in this book, rather than the spoiled, jealous creature that she is portrayed as in Peter Pan: “A faerie heart is different from a human heart. Human hearts are elastic. They have room for all sorts of passions, and they can break and heal and love again and again. Faerie hearts are evolutionarily less sophisticated…. Our hearts are too small to love more than one person in a lifetime. … I tried to talk sense into my hard little heart. But it had landed on Peter, a creature two hundred times my size and barely aware of me, and there was no prying it loose.” pg 77-78, ebook.

Hook is extra creepy and villainous: “Neverland had called to him out of legends. A green place. A wild place. And most of all, a place where he’d never grow old. Most people in London hadn’t believed it existed, but some still insisted it did, and Hook had cast his lot with them. To get to the island, he’d begged, stolen, and eventually murdered.” pg 89-90, ebook.

And so is Mr. Smee. But, I’ll let Anderson tell you his story. She does a wonderful job of it.

The relationship between Tiger Lily, Peter, and Wendy makes a lot more sense in this story. It is less about any potential failings by the girls. The main source of conflict seems to be Peter’s emotional immaturity: “As you may have guessed already, Peter had a soul that was always telling itself lies. When he was frightened, his soul told itself, “I’m not frightened.” And when something mattered that he couldn’t control, Peter’s soul told itself, “It doesn’t matter.” pg 169, ebook.

The ending of this book was totally satisfying as well for all of the characters, even little Tinker Bell. I can’t say enough good things about it.

It’s easy to see why fairy tell retellings are so popular with books like Tiger Lily out there, waiting to be discovered.

Thanks for reading!

A Thousand Naked Strangers: a paramedic’s wild ride to the edge and back by Kevin Hazzard

This is Kevin Hazzard’s memoir- he was a journalist, until 9-11, and then, he decided that he needed to work a job that gave more back to society. So, he decided to become an EMT and, eventually, a paramedic. This is the sometimes insane, sometimes touching, and, many times, yucky record of his ten years in that profession.

It is shocking, but I learned a lot about the physical and emotional toll the job takes on these professionals.

Frankly, I’m surprised that anyone is able to do this job. I know that I couldn’t.

A Thousand Naked Strangers invites the reader to examine their own mortality or, if not examine it, just remember it like a literary memento mori.

I, like most other people, want to pretend that I’m going to live forever when I know I’m not. A Thousand Naked Strangersdoesn’t allow room for that.

Hazzard’s stories can be ridiculous, gruesome, or uplifting. This book has a little bit of everything.

Why Kevin decides to become an EMT: (his first day of class) “…Alan (the instructor) tells us, right out of the gate, if we’re not sure we can handle this, now is the time to leave. A couple of people laugh as though the mere suggestion is ridiculous, but I’m not one of them. I didn’t grow up wanting to be an EMT, nor do I know if I’ll like it. What I do know is I want to get hip-deep in things that matter.” pg 19 ebook.

He certainly manages to do that.

Learning the ropes: “It’s all so new, so foreign, so much like that period of childhood- first or second grade, maybe- when you’re old enough to know you’re alive and one day will die, yet young enough to still believe that a thin vein of magic runs just beneath the surface.” pgs 26-27 ebook.

I still feel like that, most of the time.

Why Kevin stays: “Every word the radio breathes into the stale air of the station sets me on fire. EMS is the greatest show I’ve ever seen, except it’s not a show, it’s all real. No, it’s more than that- it’s reality distilled and boiled down to its essence.” pg 59 ebook

At times, I had trouble connecting with this memoir. He almost felt too excited to be out there… inviting disaster because he was going to be the one to pick up the pieces. I’ve never felt like that.

Why it’s so hard to read A Thousand Naked Strangers: “In a job where it’s possible to scoop up a stranger’s brain, it’s important to have levity. But after a while, I lose the ability to judge which stories to tell my friends and which go beyond the limits of good taste.” pg 90 ebook. That’s it- in a nutshell.

Finally, how Kevin’s job is sort of like everyone else’s: “Like a recurring dream, every working day holds the same frustrations, and the working days never change, they just stretch out for all eternity. For months I’ve wondered how it will end. Maybe I’ll reach my limit and quit.” pg 206 ebook

I think, anyone who works a job for any amount of time, feels like this at some point or another. Kevin’s job was simply more intense and invited that type of introspection more quickly.

My book club picked this memoir as its monthly read. I’m not certain I would have ever chosen to read it otherwise. But, I’m glad I did.

Thanks for reading!

Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke

Rules for a Knight was very sweet. It is a fictional story about a knight who dedicates a journal to his children and, in it, uses stories to explain how he expects them to behave and grow after he is gone.

Surprisingly, it is by Ethan Hawke, the actor! I didn’t know that he could write… and, in this book, he shows that he really can.

I had been exposed to many of the parables presented in Rules for a Knight before through either Buddhist or Christian teachings, but they are repackaged quite well in this small, green tome.

The book itself is a joy for readers who really appreciate books as an art form both in what it contains and also in its packaging. Rules for a Knight is covered in soft green cloth with the title embossed in gold and a ribbon bookmark bound into the lining- almost as if the book itself is inviting the reader to take her time, stop reading, put in the bookmark, and ponder the wisdom that comes from its pages.

This is a book to be savored and read slowly with hot tea or coffee, whichever you prefer. 🙂

I think that there will always be a place on my bookshelf for stories that teach about inner truths and the journey from apprenticeship to mastery. I also liked that the knight addressed himself to both his sons and his daughters. Probably not historically accurate, but I approve anyway.

Some of my favorite bits:
“…the first thing you must understand is that you need not have gone anywhere. You are always in the right place at exactly the right time and you always have been.” pg 11

“There are only two possible outcomes whenever you compare yourself to another, vanity or bitterness, and both are without value.” pg 39

“Pay attention: what you need to know is usually in front of you. There are no secrets, just things people choose not to notice.” pg 63

“Later he told me when he was younger he learned the secret to performing under pressure: don’t do it for yourself. Do it for someone else.” pg 67

If you enjoyed Rules for a Knight, you may want to read Zen Seeds: Reflections of a Female Priest by Shundo Aoyama or After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield.

Thanks for reading!

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s ‘Learned’ by Lena Dunham

“Not that kind of Girl” is a non-fiction collection of essays by Lena Dunham.

In Not That Kind of Girl, Dunham has crafted a very raw and brave set of essays about growing up, her family, her success, her crushing anxiety, and what it’s like to be a woman in Hollywood.

Not That Kind of Girl and I got off to a rocky start.

I loved Dunham’s introduction but the next, seemingly endless, chapters, where she talks about her dysfunctional relationships, one after another, were awful.

She uses a stream-of-consciousness style writing so that, in the middle of telling one story, she puts in totally unrelated stuff. Most of the time, it’s about another dude who she banged once or more, depends on the story. I was completely confused and not into it.

But then, once I was past that first part, the memoir picked up considerably.

So, if you can make it past the initial bit, I found the rest of Not That Kind of Girl to be well worth the read.

Here’s some parts I enjoyed:
For my husband, the DnD player, she’s talking about finding an eligible man on campus: “The pickings were slim, especially if, like me, you were over bisexuals. At least half the straight men on campus played Dungeons & Dragons, and another quarter eschewed footwear entirely.” pg 32 ebook. The horror! :p

How relationships end: “The end never comes when you think it will. It’s always ten steps past the worst moment, then a weird turn to the left.” pg 97 ebook. Kind of like the “Time Warp.”

I loved her reasons for writing. In this passage, she’s talking to a girl she admired, who had just asked Lena why she writes: “And in our work, we create a better or clearer universe,” I tell her breathlessly. “Or at least one that makes more sense.” pg 220 ebook.

Lena remembers a disturbing incident with a grade school teacher: “I was reminded again that there are so many things we need that can also hurt us: cars, knives, grown-ups. I was reminded how no one really listens to kids.” pg 267 ebook.

A true eccentric: “Isabel is a true eccentric- not the self-conscious kind who collects feathers and snow globes but the kind whose passions and predilections are so genuinely out of sync with the world at large that she herself becomes an object of fascination.” pg 282 ebook.

Finding her way in a “man’s world”: “But the scariest thought of all is the one that pushed me to keep making contact well past the point that I became uncomfortable, to try and prove myself again and again. The reason I didn’t stop answering their calls, that I rushed to drink dates that were past my bedtime and had conversations that didn’t interest me and forced myself to sit at the table long after I’d grown uncomfortable. The thought I worked so vigilantly to ensure they would never entertain: She’s silly. She’s no threat.” pg 314 ebook.

I felt that passage, very deeply. There is the beauty of Dunham’s writing- she records her thoughts in such a way that the reader says to herself, “That’s me. I’ve been there. That’s all of us.” At least, I did.

If you enjoyed Not That Kind of Girl, you may want to read Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own by Kate Bolick, Pigs Can’t Swim by Helen Peppe, or Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson. All of those books take potentially uncomfortable topics and apply a honest and, sometimes amusing, lens to them.

Thanks for reading!

Malice in Ovenland: Volume 1 by Micheline Hess

Malice in Ovenland by Micheline Hess is a graphic novel for children. Lily Brown’s mom tells her to clean the kitchen- and her adventure begins.

An excellent pick for reluctant readers, this story is a cute, gross, and, endearing romp through a fantastical world hidden behind an oven.

Lily’s heroic journey reminded me of the comic series, Princeless by Jeremy Whitley. In Princeless, the heroine tires of waiting for a prince to come save her, so, she sets about saving herself.

Lily is no wilting flower either, despite her name. 🙂

With art and a storyline appropriate for the pre-teen crowd and an empowered female protagonist, I could see this being a great addition to any juvenile’s graphic art collection.

What I enjoyed most about Malice in Ovenland were the homages to other great works of children’s literature.

The obvious one, of course, is to Alice in Wonderland but I also caught shades of the Lord of the Rings in the poem included at the end of Chapter 1.

The moment that Crumb comes to visit Lily in the dungeon reminded me of when Taran met Gurgi in the Black Cauldron.

The Queen’s advisor, named Crispodemus, reminded me of Nicodemus the rat from the classic children’s story, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien. (One of my all-time favorites, by the way)

And finally, The Royal Rangers reminded me of the Beagle Boys from Duck Tales– bumbling, minimally intelligent thugs, who would be harmless if they weren’t so determined to be bad.

Malice in Ovenland would be a great title for a reluctant reader or a reluctant eater. The story, in addition to the adventure, teaches kids to not be afraid to try new things- either food or life related.

It’s a message that can’t be repeated enough.

The humor is mainly gross-out or potty-related but, as a mother of a soon-to-be-10 year old, that’s exactly where her humor is at right now. It’s perfect for the audience that it is seeking.

Big thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital edition of this title for review purposes and thanks for reading!

The Many Selves of Katherine North by Emma Geen

In The Many Selves of Katherine North by Emma Geen, humanity has harnessed the power of consciousness and mechanized the ability to place that consciousness in different bodies at will.

Katherine is a teenager who works for a large research company. She’s the longest lasting “phenomenaut” (person who’s consciousness is put into the body of an animal) because she seems to be special.

The process of consciousness transfer seems to stop working when the brain ages and loses its plasticity. Despite her age, Katherine’s brain seems to be fine.

But then, one day, Katherine sees something strange when she’s out of her body… and perhaps she’s not as well as she imagined.

The Many Selves of Katherine North asks some pretty powerful questions like: What is consciousness? How does our physical body change how we perceive the world? What is reality?

I think that this story has the potential to open up a dialogue about these questions between readers who may not have considered them before. In that way, this is a very powerful book.

I did not like how the story flips back and forth between the present and the past. I think Geen was using the shifting timeline to build the mystery, but, because of the nature of Katherine’s many consciousness experiences, it made things rather confusing.

This is a complicated book. At times, maybe too complicated.

The richness and variety of Katherine’s experiences drives a wedge between her reality and the rest of humanity’s reality.

The reader really sees difference in this moment, when Katherine is preparing to go into work: “Later, I lie in bed quivering… because it’s only hours until I’m out of here. Here- not just a room but skin. How can other people call this their totality? There is so much more.” pg 19

Katherine captures the impossibility of explaining out-of-body experiences very succinctly here: “Because how do you cram the lived experience on to a page? The words available to me were never enough. Something would always slip the sentences. Human language developed around human bodies, it never quite fits other ways of being. pg 66

I loved all of the chapters when Katherine was in the body of an animal. In this one, she was a snake: “Old scents have imprinted upon the world like spoor into soft mud, the past blundering prey. I wonder if this is one reason many animals have a poor memory compared to humans. What’s the use in remembering when the world does it for you? pg 146 Fascinating.

Emma Geen included a disclaimer at the back of her book and it contained some of my favorite lines: “…what if there are other valid ways of knowing? What is the world is not one, but multitude, with as many ways of being as there are beings? What if literature were the opportunity to glimpse such refractions, thrown by the world as though from a diamond?” pgs 349-350 Loved that.

If you enjoyed The Many Selves of Katherine North, you may want to pick up The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern or Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock for more glimpses of worlds hidden within worlds.

Big thanks to Goodreads First Reads program, NetGalley, and Bloomsbury USA for providing me with an advance reading copy of this novel.

Thanks for reading!

The Abominable: a Novel by Dan Simmons

The Abominable by Dan Simmons is a historical fiction novel about mountain climbing and a mystery that is set, for the most part, during the early years of World War II.

The story reads like less of an adventure novel and more like an homage to the sport of mountaineering.

Dan Simmons takes his time building the tension of the tale with back stories and detours until I nearly lost interest in the whole thing. But, to be fair, I have never been a serious mountain climber, having injured myself the first and only time I tried it.

I do enjoy long hikes in beautiful spaces. I don’t like risking my life or the lives of my companions in the process. So, not my thing, but maybe it’s somebody else’s.

If hiking is your jam, the long and technical descriptions of climbing techniques, knots, and methods in The Abominable might be just the read you’ve been looking for.

Here’s a pretty passage about viewing the night sky, high up in the mountains: “When you look at the stars near the horizon…especially when it’s really cold.. they tend to jitter around. Jumping left, then right… all while they jiggle up and down at the same time. I think it has something to do with masses of super-cold air lying over the land or frozen sea acting like a lens that’s being moved…” pg 18

One of the many passages that literally made my hands sweat in fear for the characters: “It’s tricky playing out the rope to Jean-Claude as I crab-shuffle to the left. Most of it is in my rucksack, which keeps trying to pull me back and off the face with just the weight of the extra rope and a few other small things in it, but some I’ve had to loop over my right shoulder to keep playing out to J.C. …

I’ve made it a little more than halfway to the pipe ledge when I slip…” pg 111

There are hundreds of pages with writing like that. I found it stressful, but again, I’m not a mountain climber.

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com

There’s a lot of wry humor in this read too: “…why are they so eager to get this blessing from the monastery’s holy man, Dzatrul Rinpoche? If everything’s predestined for them anyway, what difference will the abbot’s blessing make?” Pasang smiles his small smile. “Do not ask me, Mr. Perry, to make sense of the internal contradictions that are common in all religions.” pg 341

More love for mountain climbing: “Machig Labdron once wrote, Unless all reality is made worse, one cannot attain liberation… So wander in grisly places and mountain retreats… do not get distracted by doctrines and books… just get real experiences… in the horrid and desolate.” “In other words,” I say, “face your demons.” “Exactly,” says Reggie. “Make a gift of your body to the demons of the mountains and wilderness. It’s the best way to destroy the last vestiges of one’s vanity and pride.” pg 346

This book in two lines: “We were metaphorical inches from hypothermia-which has a wider range of terrible symptoms than merely going to sleep and freezing to death, not the least of which would be intemperate belligerence and a need to rip our clothes off as we froze-and literal inches from a 9,000-foot drop to our south side and a 10,000-foot drop a few more feet away to the north side. But for the moment, we were very happy.” pg 554

Photo by Aleksandr Slobodianyk on Pexels.com

And some people call that fun.

So, beyond being terrified during the climbing portions and bored by the never ending, rambling style of story-telling, I wanted much more of the fantastical in this tale, for example: the abominable snowman!

I’m not going to say anymore about yetis because I don’t want to spoil the surprising twists and turns of this tale for those who do choose to pick it up. Prepare yourself for one hell of a climb though- because it’s a long and meandering one.

Thanks for reading!

Expecting Someone Taller by Tom Holt

Expecting Someone Taller by Tom Holt is a humorous fantasy novel based off of the Ring Cycle of Norse mythology. It’s older (published in 1990) but I like reading pulp fantasy fiction, no matter its age.

Full disclosure: I know The Lord of the Rings better than the Norse mythological stories it is based on. Holt provides a very short synopsis of the myths for folks like me and I was grateful for it. Otherwise, I would have not understood what on earth was going on.

Holt is an English fantasy-humorist and, like Pratchett’s many offerings, I enjoy his books but never have laugh out loud moments. I don’t know if the humor is lost-in-translation or what.

I expect that those who are more familiar with the Norse myths and who enjoy subtle humor might really love this rather silly tale of Malcolm and the ring.

There were some memorable lines: “Ingolf eased the plain gold ring off his finger and passed it to Malcolm, who accepted it rather as one might accept some delicacy made from the unspeakable parts of a rare amphibian at an embassy function.” pg 7 Nice.

“The next morning, Malcolm thought long and hard before waking up, for he had come to recognise over the past quarter of a century that rather less can go wrong if you are asleep.” pg 15 Absolutely true in my experience too.

Malcolm figuring out how the Tarnhelm (a hat that can change the wearer into anything) works: “Make me,” he said aloud, “as handsome as it is possible to be.”… He stood for awhile and stared… “We’ll call that one Richard” (he had always wanted to be called Richard). He resumed his own shape (which came as a bitter disappointment) then said “Richard,” firmly. At once, the Most Handsome Man reappeared in the mirror, which proved that the Tarnhelm had a memory, like a pocket calculator.” pg 20-21

The difference between smiles: “The girl looked at him and smiled. Malcolm had come to believe that he was fairly well equipped to deal with smiles, but this was a new sort; not a happy, optimistic smile but a sad, wistful smile. It didn’t say, “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” like the stock delivery of a Rhinemaiden, but, “It would have been nice if…” which is quite different.” pg 117

Why humans are the worst pick for ring bearing: “And so you give this irregularity in your minds a name of its own. You call it Love, which is meant to make everything all right. Rather than try to sort it out or find a vaccine, you go out of your way to glorify it. I mentioned your art and your poetry just now. What are your favourite themes? Love and War.”…”Now be fair,” he continued, “can you honestly say that a member of a species with this ancestral fallibility should be allowed to rule the universe?” pg 160 Fair question.

If you enjoyed Expecting Someone Taller, you may want to pick up The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar (a modern day fantasy with fairies) or Anansi Boys by Neal Gaiman (a fantasy about gods and their descendants).

Thanks for reading!

The Help Desk Book Blog

Sharing reviews and deep thoughts about life.

Tag: Reviews

Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom by Robert Moss

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

A Thousand Naked Strangers: a paramedic’s wild ride to the edge and back by Kevin Hazzard

Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s ‘Learned’ by Lena Dunham

Malice in Ovenland: Volume 1 by Micheline Hess

The Many Selves of Katherine North by Emma Geen

The Abominable: a Novel by Dan Simmons

Expecting Someone Taller by Tom Holt

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