I’ve been trying to read more lately.  We cut out our cable tv service years ago, but that hasn’t stopped me from wasting hours in front of Netflix and Hulu.  I listen to informative podcasts on my drive to and from work, but listening/watching simply do not carry with them the same mental stimulus that reading does.  Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, self help, or anything else, I think it’s hard to argue against the benefits of reading.  I’m sad that over the years it has taken such a backseat to other pursuits.

So in that spirit, I wanted to write a quick mind-flow of a book I read called The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein.  This won’t be very structured, and I think it might even be more interesting this way.

You can check out the synopsis and reviews for this book on Amazon, and you can take it from me that it’s 4.7/5 star rating from over 8,000 reviews is well warranted.

What can a dog’s opinion of driving in the rain teach us about the universe?

A family dog named Enzo narrates the book from his perspective.  Enzo belongs to a human named Denny, who is a race car driver.  The book chronicles Denny and Enzo’s lives as he grows up, starts a family, and just generally lives life.  And it teaches some of the most profound life lessons I’ve ever read on paper… all from a dog’s perspective and reflection on racing.  It’s touching, heartwarming and deeply introspective reading.  It’s awesome.

I’ve been learning a little bit about spirituality, energy and affirmations… mostly out of sheer curiosity.  I’m an atheist so I don’t really believe in spirituality.  But I’m also a man of practicality, so I don’t discredit it entirely.  Having learned about the quantum universe and all kinds of things like “spooky action at a distance,” I’m more than willing to entertain the possibility that the universe functions on levels that borderline on the spiritual.

There’s a great quote from the book:

That which you manifest is before you

In fact… this book is chock full of great quotes.  I’ve written many of them down for personal reflection.  What this quote means to me is that ultimately we are the designers of our own destinies.  Circumstances may be beyond control, but what we do manifest are our actions and reactions to those circumstances.

Enter the law of attraction, vibrational energies and affirmations

People who talk about vibrational energies and the laws of attraction say something similar.  Even famous quantum physicists claim that on a quantum scale, the world is not formed into any discernible reality until it is physically observed by us.  Check out this article on the science behind this: the quantum superposition.  It’s horribly interesting stuff and the preposterousness of it all only compounds how incredible it all really is.

The Art of Racing in the Rain takes this idea of manifestation and simplifies it and expands on it in ways that make it really relevant.  Now I don’t know about the law of attraction, but can it really be more far fetched than the law of gravity.  Can positive affirmations and attestations really impact our reality?

I heard on an episode of The Primal Blueprint Podcast, the claim that positive vibrational energies and self affirmations are enough to physically change your path in life.  The woman being interviewed claimed in no uncertain terms that if you create truly positive energy, visualize your success, and use verbal affirmations such as “I’m going to get that job today,” you actually tend to attract the things you are visualizing.  Whether it’s money, a job, a love interest, you name it.

There is actually a pretty thriving community of gurus who follow this ideology.  And since I love this book so much, I’m developing a bit more of a direct interest in it.

If I can’t see, smell, taste, hear or touch it, does it exist?

It sounds pretty far fetched to me.  But we have to understand that there are energies, dimensions and forces at work in the world that we can’t see, feel, or experience, but which are there nonetheless.  I think once we understand and accept this fact, the idea of affirmations and the law of attraction become easier to grasp.

My challenge to myself is to just read more and give it a try.

On a religious note, I had an interesting experience several months ago with a friend.  This friend is very religious and was very open to discussing his views with me.  He never ventured to impart his views on me, but he was always open to discussing it.  One time we had a discussion about accepting Jesus, and how if you truly open your heart to him, you will feel his divine presence.

I didn’t give this claim much thought at the time, but thinking back to this conversation now, it doesn’t sound so ridiculous.  I’m not saying that I agree with his religious views, but I think there may be some merit and credibility to the idea that if you put out a certain energy and belief into the void, you tend to attract the things you are looking for.

Maybe religion is on to something…

So a person who truly in his heart is looking for salvation, and for the acceptance and realization of a deity, I think I can come to grips with the idea now that they will inherently “find what they are looking for.”  This is a pretty profound realization.  And it raises some interesting questions about the power of the mind.  Do these people, who so actively seek out Jesus create the feeling of contact through their own intentions?  Do their honest and truthful intentions open a doorway for a deity to make contact?  Maybe it’s a combination?

I’m not saying either is correct, but I’m continuously amazed by the power of the brain.  I think it’s certainly possible that people of faith have created a self-perpetuating loop in some respects.  Believe in god and god will appear to you.  The same way if you observe a quantum particle, it will suddenly take on a state of existence.

Wow!

Hey guy, I thought this was a book review?!

I got off track a little bit, I admit.  A series of events in the last few weeks, including reading this book have gotten me very interested in these concepts.

Here’s a quick personal experience about vibrational energy.  Of course this doesn’t prove a damn thing, but it’s a cool possibility.

I had been having a pretty bad week.  I was carrying a lot of negative energy into every day, dreading my drive to work, and bringing the negative baggage back home with me at the end of a crappy work day.  That’s when I listened to a podcast about positive vibrational energy and the law of attraction.

Not only that, but of the two random podcasts I listened to that day, both of them were about the law of attraction.  These were two separate podcasts from two separate people, each interviewing two very different hosts about two very different subjects.  And yet both conversations ended up talking about the law of attraction.

Kung Fu Panda: wiser than you may think

There are no accidents – Master Shifu, Kung Fu Panda

I thought this was an interesting coincidence and started to wonder… was it a coincidence at all?  So the next day I started thinking entirely about positive vibrational energies to put out into the universe.  I didn’t listen to anything on my drive the next morning.  Instead I let my mind wander.  Every time I felt a negative thought coming up about work, I would replace it with something positive.  It was very forced, but it was also a very active mental engagement.

This was on Valentine’s day, by the way.  That night I left work early so I could go to the store and buy my wife a last minute gift.  As chance would have it, right as I drove by our daughter’s day care, I got a phone call saying I could pick her up early, which never happens.  I decided to go and pick her up early and as I turned the corner to her day care room, I saw her stand up for the first time on her own!

Now this all just sounds like coincidence, and if you’d asked me a few weeks ago, I’d agree with you on that.  But to someone who believes in the law of attraction, none of this was coincidental.  My intention, which I set from the beginning of that day, lead me to want to leave work early to do something nice for my wife.  Which lead me to be in the right place at the right time to pick up my daughter early.  And that lead me to being there are the exact moment to witness that particular once in a lifetime event.

Coincidence?  Maybe… maybe not.

That which you manifest is before you

Now I’m not saying that if you go to bed wanting to win Powerball that you’ll wake up to a winning ticket.  I don’t think it works that way.  I don’t think virtuosity has anything to do with it necessarily, but I think it’s more to do with equal energies.  The energy you put into the world in order to win Powerball is based on greed, rather than growth.  The laws of attraction and reciprocity might work differently if you had energies focused on doing good things with that money, or if you put out similar energies towards someone else’s success.

So maybe there’s something to giving to charity.  Although most of us give to charity for a tax write-off (especially in financially independent circles, like ours) or to feel good (yeah, that dopamine, baby!), there’s certainly some positive vibrational energy given off when you do something selfless like that.

I guess that’s what it’s all about.  And it’s the same lesson we’ve been getting taught for most of our lives.  Treat people the way you want to be treated.  Be the change you want to see in the world.  You get out what you put in.

That which you manifest is before you.

Check out The Art of Racing in the Rain on Amazon if you are so inclined.  It’s an amazing book.  And although maybe this review wasn’t the kind of review you were expecting, I hope it gives you some motivation to go pick it up.

What are your thoughts on reciprocity, vibrational energy and affirmations?