This is the appendix to the Connection Manifesto.
These are the books and blogs we highly recommend to help you in Step One: Connect with Yourself.
Happiness
- Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert shows you that what you think will make you happy isn’t what will actually make you happy, and explains how to figure out what will actually make you happy.
- On Simplicity, a blog about happy living through simple living.
- SARK’s Journal, a blog about appreciating everything even when it’s hard.
Productivity
- Charlie Gilkey of Productive Flourishing writes about how to be productive while still being creative, playful, and free.
- Getting Things Done by David Allen explains a very particular system, but even if that system’s not for you, the principles are super useful.
Personal Growth
- Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina gives you a framework for improving all aspects of your life.
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey isn’t about whipping yourself into being “effective”, it’s about developing and practicing skills that will make you happier, more likeable, and more fulfilled.
- Havi Brooks and her duck Selma of The Fluent Self write about getting unstuck and improving your habits.
The Connection Paradigm
- Ishmael by Daniel Quinn illustrates the paradigm we live in today, which he calls Mother Culture.
- The Story of B by Daniel Quinn develops these ideas further, and talks about what happens when you go against the grain of the dominant paradigm.
- The Paradigm Conspiracy by Christopher Largent and Denise Breton talks about how we can heal the dominant paradigm and thereby heal the world.
If you have your own recommendations, feel free to leave a comment below!
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Thanks guys for your Maifesto. Inspires me to start my own personal revolution. Sorely needed. Just hit my 60th bithday a few weeks ago. Wondered ‘how did that happen so quickly!’
So yes time for a revolution, my one can only start with me.
Thanks again – btw your Manifesto is also is beautifully produced!
Barry – late at night in Ireland
Thank you for writing this.
Before I read it I was already aching to change the world. Now I’m going to.
I’m deeply glad that I’ve been caught early, head full of ideas, and pushing my own little boat into a new tack, retraining myself to make stories, share and distribute ideas and make content that will blow open minds.
Your current is strong here.
Bobz – even later in Ireland
I should have read your manifesto much sooner! I have always felt this way, you just put it into words for me.
Count me in!
Bette
Are you interested in critical feedback on the content of the manifesto? This comment section doesn’t seem like the appropriate venue, but if you are interested I could send a private note with some thoughts.
~Duff
@BarryMac: Thank you!
@Bobz: YEAH!
@BadMsM: Rock on!
@Duff: Yes, please!
Any chance we can recommend our own work? My site has been trying to help anyone opt out of the diet industry for a while and I think fits in here quite well.
Thanks, you two. I loved this. I was teary eyed by the time I got to the end. I didn’t know we all had so much in common…*smile*
Can I just say: Awesome :D Got me thinking about world-changing again :)
Rohan
We need to band together and change the world for the better. That means teaching each other to open up to new concepts that will improve our lives. I’m a huge fan of most of your resources. There is so many great people out there changing the world. I feel lucky to be alive in this day and age. I hope to do the same through my blog. Because each day is an opportunity to improve people’s lives.
Thanks for your wonderful manifesto and I’m spreading the word.
The manifesto is awesome; it speaks the words and feelings of my soul, and it is putting the power in connection, not control, which is what I am all about. I know that I can change the world, and I know that I can help others see how they can do it as well.
Thank you for sharing this; it really rocks. Keep up the terrific work!!!! Peace and love, Vanessa
@Michael: Sure, go for it! We’ll moderate anything we feel is inappropriate or irrelevant.
@Naomi: *big smile*
@Rohan: Yeah!!
@Karl: I totally agree, and thanks for your help!
@Vanessa: Thank you! We’re thrilled to hear that it resonates with you. I feel like in speaking from our hearts, we’re connecting with something deep, maybe even universal. I’m amazed when that kind of connection happens.
P&K, I read the manifesto more closely this weekend: it is serious, sweet, soulful and sound (and every other “s” that makes a difference). Some of the recommendations have that kind of integrity where you realize that the simple is profound, and the profound is simple. (But then, of course, you have to do the work.)
thank you, TB
I read your manifesto (and passed it on to my friends and family!) and am very inspired and hopeful thanks to it! It does make you wish more people were open to thinking about these other options, and maybe we can all make that happen.
Thank you for writing such a moving manifesto!
Pace and Kyeli; thanks for putting your thoughts and feelings into an easily digestible form that makes incredible sense. I’m so happy that my friend sent this link to me today. Now I know why he did it. Big hugs for him and for you two!
Now, what to do? I’m at a crossroads and could drastically alter my life. Kids are grown, divorce is done and I am free as a bird. I could live the life I have imagined and you have helped me to see that path with clarity. I’ll be sharing this with others and reading some of your resources. Then I’m going to do what I have always wanted to do – sell it all and go travel volunteering until I find my niche. Someone in Africa could use my help, I’m sure. Then we’ll see from there.
Thanks for connecting with your souls and sharing it with others. I think I’m going to enjoy being a freak.
Great read. I’m already with you on about all of it! Very well done, and looking forward to having you in my monkeyshpere :-)
@Deb: This is, I think, the most amazing comment we have ever received. We are honored, and we’re thrilled to know that we helped you.
Love this manifesto. Captures a lot in a very small space clearly and accessibly. Am shring on FB and Twitter with my folks ’cause we all need to have this at heand to read and remind! Thank you!
p.s. You might enjoy visiting Body Politics: http://bodypoloitics.allzah.com/ – a colllaborative project of mine with Heather Bartlett (the blog is mostly her writing) – she just did an amazing project with gradeschoolers on self image that is reported there.
Wow– So much of this speaks to the greyness that has overcome our lives as my husband and I try to “grow up” and “live like adults.” We’ve never been more miserable. Now we’re reading this and gaining trust in our instincts that the status quo is not for us, that we are artists, and that we can do things differently. Thank you, thank you.
I’m thrilled to read the manifesto, and to feel I was a part of the herstory that created it. I was a founding member of FLAG (Feminist Lesbian Action Group) in Victoria BC in the 1970s, and have grown to be many things, play many roles, and at age 73 I’m really enjoying being myself! Also, to plug my book, which definitely puts me in the FREAK category. Your Invisible Bodies: a reference for children and adults about human energy fields is my kids book inspired by my work as a healer, teacher and activitist. Find me and/or the book at the above website. Thanks to you young FREAKS for being who you are and telling your own truth!
Amazing manifesto! I hadn’t encountered the monkeysphere concept before but it makes perfect sense, as does much of the rest of your writing. Now to puzzle out exactly where my goals and world-effect intersect!
@Sharon: Go you! Also, Your Invisible Bodies sounds pretty totally awesome. Kyeli and I are Reiki healers, too.
As I was reading this it reminded me of a list of 10 questions I came up with for my youth group. I wanted them to think for themselves and not just regurgitate what I had to say. So, if you will indulge me, here are what I called “Ten Questions to Expand the Mind.” 1.Where did you learn what you know? 2. Is the source reliable? 3. If you consider the source to be reliable, what do you base that reliability or belief on and why? 4. How does what you know or believe affect your life? 5. Do you accept what you learned or were taught without question? 6. Are there other options or opinions you should or could explore? 7.The people, places or things that have the biggest effect on my life are _______? 8. How will those people, places, or things affect the rest of my life? 9. I am most interested in__________? 10. How will this interest show itself in my life? Thank you for the “manifesto” It is eye opening. Pastor Paul.
I was passed this manifesto by a good friend and am currently starting on my own personal journey to discover who I am, what I believe, and who I want to become. This was exactly the push I needed in my life.
A good friend also passed the manifesto on to me.
Some of the concepts set forth in your manifesto merge well with the ones I currently have, and the ideas and content were so inspiring and well explained.
We are all connected after all, and it warms my heart to see how joyfully and enthusiastically people respond to this.
It gives me some much needed hope.
-Alpena, Michigan
Let’s make this world feel like home again. I vow to love beyond.
thank you for your manifesto. I am already on my way connecting with my inner truth and my soul and letting myself shine. So we are on the path together – it is true – we are all connected – and it feels so good to know, that there are so many sweet souls longing and moving towards a better world out there.
Awesome! I read every word and will share with friends, and would like to share on my website as well! I’ve been following my heart my whole life, betraying myself here and there, but have for the last 2.5 years been committed to living a life full of love and laughter. =)
Share away, Shell! Thank you, and keep up the Great Work!
Love it! I read, shared — and signed up for the Writing Workshop.
I read this months ago and liked it but then dismissed it… but rereading it today was just an amazing experience. I guess I’m finally ready to properly join the revolution and embrace my freak self! Recently, I’ve decided to say fuck it to getting a ‘real job,’ which is completely terrifying but is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. There is no reason why I can’t make my business successful except for me holding myself back with my own fear. Thanks for the inspiration and confirmation that I’m crazy in a good way!
Love the outlandish idea of being a freak … time to step into my golden slippers and walk the talk!
This is a most valuable concept to offer my hidebound and increasingly troubled tribe of physicians, whose hearts are sore with the longing to keep doing something meaningful and “healing” and who can no longer stand being on the treadmill we call the American healthcare system — thank you for this gift. A great reminder.
For another couple of resources on happiness, my two bibles are The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky and Happiness at Work by Srikumar Rao.
I’ve been spending a Sunday morning rereading the Manifesto. Ahh… connection.
I’m proud of steps I’ve taken toward my kind of life and a healthier world, *and* I still wander constantly into where I didn’t mean to go or don’t recognize the territory; I get confused and discouraged, and that’s when I need to zero in on some landmarks. Thanks for helping me come back to things that are important to me. It makes me happy.
Back in the 80`s we fought the hopeless war as we saw it. And it did seem hopeless. The spectacle appropriates all. However, this journey is not over. My own self-realisations truly blossomed amidst countless set-backs and even self-sabotage. It`s time to relight the flame, thanks for the reminder.
I was crying by the end of the first page.
All I can say is thank you for following your hearts, braving your own resistance and putting this out there. The Connection Manifesto seems to sum up everything I’ve been learning for the past 20 years and inspires me to put my studies into practice.
I will now return to your blog to read every word you two have published there.
XO Joy
Thank you so much, Joy. That means a lot to me. I’m happy you found us, and happy we’ve found you! Yay connection!
Consider me inspired please!
The Connection Revolution is incredibly empowering and moving. I appreciate so much what you say about art and artists being world-changers – and I love, love, love the monkeysphere. I’m an introvert and I love the monkeysphere – because I think it means actually connecting vs. mere networking. I totally dig connecting with others, but the idea of networking makes me a little bit ill. I’m gonna go share your wonderful book now!
Wow, really great message you have here. I really enjoyed reading the manifesto.
Thank you.