New Book Finally Here! The Great Growing Up Debuts in October

 
Next month is the officially launch month for my new book – The Great Growing Up: Being Responsible for Humanity’s Future.  While my 14^th book, this one feels like my magnum opus – “my baby” – but then I suppose every new book is like a newborn child to an author. I have certainly heard this before from experienced authors.

The Great Growing Up is about an urgent collective choice: to opt for responsible adulthood over the largely adolescent ways we have been relating to one another and our planet Earth. I have tried to demonstrate that it is not too late to create the future we all say we want for our children and our children's children--a future that is environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just.  It is about a change of thinking that supports a paradigm shift-from adolescent self-centeredness to adult responsibility for all life forms.

I call for any readers who are willing to genuinely "grow up” to make this necessary choice. Ever-increasing numbers of individuals today are already seeking self-actualization, growing in consciousness, and willing to take on leadership roles in bringing about the first conscious evolution of our species. This represents a somewhat invisible global movement of historic proportions. The Great Growing Up invites anyone concerned with humanity's future to participate in this new thinking. The work of growing up is about a change of mind; we simply need to begin acting like mature adults.

The book has been blessed with much advance praise from many of my peers and mentors. In the near future I will have a website for the book, which will include these endorsements as well as a blog where I can exchange notes with readers. I shall look forward to connecting with many of you there.

You can advance purchase the book from Amazon.com as well as Barnes & Noble at substantial discounts.

Comments

[K.A.]

What publisher is publishing the book?

[K.A.]

"I receive notes all the time from people who want to help their friends, or to "fix" something broken they see in the world. Invariably, I offer the same advice: first, fix yourself.

"I know people who are horribly depressed about the state of the nation....

"Always, invariably, these people are seriously blown out in one of the three major arenas. Their bodies are a mess, their careers are joyless, or their relationships are sterile or non-existent. The very struggle to actually engage with these three arenas will give you all the compassion and understanding you need to look at the world and grasp the magnificence of the human spirit.

"It is only when you neglect one or more of these three that you drift into delusion. And this is the source of so much sophomoric writing by grown-up children who feel their philosophical ramblings could cure the world if only anyone would listen. Or who feel that love is a lie, that honor is dead, that hope is lost.

"They have lost their own hope. They have buried their own treasure, and forgotten where they put the map. They have hidden their own light under a bushel.

"Every story you write, every interaction you have, every act of kindness or commerce in your day is informed and empowered - or disempowered - by your beliefs and values. By your view of the world. And what if those beliefs are wrong? How do you know what you think you know? Because someone told you? If you are a writer, are you just parroting things that you read somewhere else, or are you developing the capacity for independent thought and judgment?

"If you will look at the three arenas honestly, a bombshell of awareness should explode.
1) If your relationships are damaged or nonexistent, extrapolate from here to the rest of the world. How does your own lack of connection parallel the conflict between nations? Between political parties?
2) If your finances are imbalanced, what would happen if the nation ran itself the way you ran your bank account? Can you really say you don't understand our massive deficit if you can't balance your own checkbook?
3) If the world operated the way you run your body, what would it look like? How would we conserve or expend our resources?

Dig deep. Find truth. THAT is what will inform your work. None of us are perfect. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." It is in recognition of those flaws, and commitment to telling the truth about them, that we find wisdom."

-Steve Barnes.

[John Renesch]

The publisher is Hohm Press based in Arizona.

[John Renesch]

Steve, your second comment here sounds more like a speech than a question so I will let it stand on its own.

[K.A.]

Haha, missed again... It was neither a speech nor a question.
Cheers.

[kandi]

Hi, I think it is great!

[Rich Guy Miller]

Hi, John, I am glad to see your book announcement. Yes, we are due for a shift in responsibility. I hope to see some coming excerpts or table of contents to better appreciate "your baby."