How do we know something for sure? How do we decide what's true? In Finding Reality, author Dr. Edwin E. Olson shows how the best answers to these questions emerge from the interaction of four ways of knowing: Insights: what we imagine based on experience Authority: what others have taught us based on their beliefs Empiricism: what others have discovered based on evidence Praxis: what we learn through our senses Drawing from a range of human systems dynamics and scientific, psychological, philosophical, and religious sources, this guide discusses how each way of knowing provides a different approach to reality. When the four ways of knowing interact, creative outcomes for personal development and exploration of important issues come to fruition. Praise for Finding Reality "This is a wisdom book for twenty-first century seekers of truth and for organizations that need to change. ... Here is a book that identifies and honors multiple ways of knowing reality. Using down-to-earth examples, the reader is skillfully and expertly guided through ways of knowing which, when brought to bear on our personal and corporate life situations, results in creative emergence-the surprising solution that is born when intuition, facts, inherited wisdom, and practice converge. I highly recommend this book." - Bruce Sanguin, Author of Darwin, Divinity, and the Dance of the Cosmos "Ed Olson has provided a practical and inspiring map to guide inquiry for personal growth and development in uncertain times." - Glenda H. Eoyang, Executive Director, Human Systems Dynamics Institute

In Finding Space, Ann Belford Ulanov argues that depth psychology in general and the work of D. W. Winnicott in particular offer vital new ways in which to apprehend religious life, especially Christian religious life. Her inspiration is rooted in Winnicott's influence on her work as an analyst and how his ideas have enriched her own Christian faith and religious understanding. In addition, Ulanov feels Winnicott's focus on the intensity of aliveness is an antidote to the plight of contemporary religion - that it can be passionless or rote, and thereby irrelevant to so many people. She expands Winnicott's concept of transitional space between self and other to apply to the space between the human and divine. She explores the importance of the "illusionist element" of God images in creative approaches to the divine. Other topics include the paradox transitional reality holds with subjective and objective notions Christians have of God; the inclusion of the body - specifically sexuality and aggression and the struggle for integration within the self - in the search for relationship with God; and the importance of the feminine. In an especially helpful appendix, Ulanov includes Winnicott's thoughts on matters pertinent to religious life and thought.

We need a coherent picture of our world. Life’s realities won’t let us ignore its fundamental questions, but with so many opposing views, how will we choose answers that are reliable? In this series of books, David Gooding and John Lennox offer a fair analysis of religious and philosophical attempts to find the truth about the world and our place in it. By listening to the Bible alongside other leading voices, they show that it is not only answering life’s biggest questions—it is asking better questions than we ever thought to ask. In Book 2 – Finding Ultimate Reality, they remind us that the authority behind ethics cannot be separated from the truth about ultimate reality. Is there a Creator who stands behind his moral law? Are we the product of amoral forces, left to create moral consensus? Gooding and Lennox compare ultimate reality as understood in: Indian Pantheistic Monism, Greek Philosophy and Mysticism, Naturalism and Atheism, and Christian Theism.

Optimism had been a mainstay since the post-World War II days. Few of us expected the economic slowdown would be more than a pause. A SIMPLICITY REVOLUTION: FINDING HAPPINESS IN THE NEW REALITY is a commentary on Americas Boom and Bust decade and the Corporatocracy, that caused it. The book is divided into chapters full of practical advice to assist readers on their personal lifestyle journeys. We now can see that Americas desire to supersize everything was unsustainable. What economists refer to as Americas New Normal, Author Sue Schell calls our New Reality. She writes, After millions of people lost their jobs and some ultimately their homes, we had heightened anxiety over the possibility that Americas best days may be behind us? Would our American Dream survive for future generations? What was to become of the vanishing middle class? Anthropology Professor Dr. Robert Launay, of Northwestern University, penned the forward to the book. He writes, The challenges we are facing are new, and so the solutions and values we forge to meet them must also be new. Here, Sue Schell has hit the nail on the head. A Simple life is not about frugality. It is about living an authentic life that lets you live the life that you dream of living. A life that is rooted not in the stuff you own, but in your relationships with family and friends. This may very well prove to be the silver lining we find in this Great Recession. By M.W. Carlson (U.S.) -Feeling lost and disillusioned after the financial crash and never-ending recession? Maybe you lost your job, or are working at a job you hate? You're not alone. This book helped me sort things out and clarify what's most important for long-term happiness. According to this author, there are four "guideposts" to a simpler life: (1) protect our environment; (2) always be financially responsible; (3) use thoughtful consumption; and (4) community involvement. This all makes perfect sense, you say, yet it does need reinforcement, which author Schell does effectively with her own life stories. You get the feeling she is a person with compassion for others, something we need more of these days. No matter what stage of life you're in, you will benefit from reading this book. It may give you some new ideas about how to approach life, how to get more satisfaction from your life, or it may reinforce what you're already doing. Either way, GET THIS BOOK AND READ IT - you'll feel more hopeful, thoughtful and even peaceful after reading it. It's funny too! You'll enjoy the related quotes from famous historical figures (Thoreau, da Vinci, Confucius, to name a few). After all, simplicity isn't new, but we need to be reminded during these difficult times. By the way, my 80-something-year-old mom read this and liked it too.

When you are young you have to find out for yourself what life is really like. Your parents tell you things but often they go right over your head and you struggle with your own path. Sometimes you get so far off the path that you are at risk of destroying your life. It is only the fact that you are searching that you are on a quest that gets the attention of a loving God who has a Heart set for good to those whom He has created. This is the true story of my journey.

NOT EVERY FAIRY TALE HAS A HAPPY ENDING. . . . Reality hit Taylor Armstrong hard one tragic evening last August when she found the body of her estranged husband, Russell, hanging in his California home. Fans across the country were shocked at the horrific news of his death and even more shocked to discover that behind the glittering “reality” of Taylor’s life on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills lurked a painful story of emotional and physical abuse that she had been terrified to tell. An estimated 80 percent of domestic abuse victims remain silent, suffocated by fear and relentless self-doubt. For Taylor, it was the threat of financial ruin and finding herself alone with her young daughter that kept her tethered to her volatile husband. But after a ferocious roundhouse punch from Russell fractured her face, resulting in reconstructive surgery, she finally made the brave decision to walk away from a man she loved and a legacy of physical abuse that she first encountered as a child and that haunted her throughout her adulthood. To the outside world, the Armstrongs lived like royalty, throwing lavish parties—including a memorable tea party for their daughter’s fourth birthday—and mingling with their privileged Housewives co-stars. It was impossible to hide the cracks in their marriage from the cameras forever, though, and their darkest secrets slowly began to seep through the gilded façade. With searing honesty, Taylor candidly examines her difficult journey from the abusive home in which she was born to the low self-esteem that kept her constantly on the run from herself, to the tumultuous marriage that ended in suicide, and ultimately to her realization that only by sharing her moving story could she help other women. *** “The terrible truth is that I felt lost without the control that Russell had imposed on me for the nearly six years that we were married. Disturbingly, I missed that control. I didn’t know what to do once I had no one there to tell me how to dress, act, and behave; what to want; and who, even, to be. In some ways, I missed the abuse. I missed the pain. I missed being scared. Not because I liked feeling any of that. But because it was the life I had become accustomed to, and without anyone to be afraid of, to apologize to, and to cover for, I felt completely lost.” —TAYLOR ARMSTRONG

Bending Reality is the innovative process used by billionaires, tech leaders, and the world's most successful people to make the impossible . . . probable. Victoria Song teaches readers how to unlock the hidden power within their bodies to get what they want. After achieving success but lacking fulfillment as a student at Yale University and Harvard Business School, and then as a Forbes 30 Under 30 Venture Capitalist, Victoria set off on an unusual quest to study, train, and work with more than 24 of the best coaches, therapists, and healers in the world. She then deployed the skills and tools she'd learned with a diverse group of the world's highest performers. Through it all, she's discovered the codes that enable her clients to bend reality toward the directions they want. By accessing this extraordinary ability, Victoria's clients have sold a company for 4 billion dollars, grown revenue 1,000% during a pandemic, and pivoted to design a more effective COVID-19 vaccine. Victoria reveals the meta-framework behind peak performance, self-development, therapy, and meditation that is accessible for all. Whether you've studied these areas closely or this is the first book you've read on this topic, you'll have a front row seat to how the world's elite use this knowledge to achieve more while doing less. In this fast-paced guide to success, you will learn how to: Bend reality by mastering two states of being that most people aren't even aware of. Navigate change and face the unknown like the greatest leaders. Access creative downloads that artists, musicians, and geniuses receive. Make your own luck--there's literally a recipe! Find your unique "zone of genius" and live from it every day. Packed with powerful tools and exercises, Bending Reality will move you beyond intellectual understanding to embodiment. This is not another mindset book. You're ready for Bending Reality if you realize it's time to go beyond the mind and harness the full capacity of your consciousness to make quantum leaps in every area of your life. After learning how to bend reality, you will no longer need to memorize rules, tips, or tricks, but you will embody the essence of a remarkable leader who can make the impossible--probable.