Tired of reading the same recommended books from the usual sources? Just think of our weekly What We’re Reading column as your non-committal book club with The FADER and some of your favorite bands. For this installment, the rapper/actor Common gives us a window into how he manages to wear so many hats and stay centered.
The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship: A Toltec Wisdom Book by don Miguel Ruiz: This book reminds me that love for self is where love begins. Plus, some of my favorite themes of life are in this book: themes of Awareness, themes of Transformation and themes of Love.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle: This book is powerful in that it teaches you about staying in the present moment. Too often we are mentally clouded by focusing our past and our present moments are distorted with anxiety about the future. Both of these things take us away from focusing on the blessing of the present moment and simply being.
The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham by Esther Hick & Jerry Hicks: We are a sum of our thoughts and actions, and our thinking and feelings truly create our reality. This book helped me learn how to manifest positive and empowering moments in my life. Channeling that positivity seems to increase the frequency of other blessings. It’s one of those self-help books that’s simple and straight to the point which I can appreciate, especially when I’m out on the road and don’t have much to time to fully embrace and digest an entire body of work. My favorite quote is: "The best scenario is to desire something and to bring yourself into the belief or expectation of achieving it...If you have a strong desire for something but you doubt your ability to achieve it, it cannot come, at least not right now, for you must bring your thought of desire and your thought of belief into alignment." Dream it, believe it, then see it through.
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by don Miguel Ruiz: Ruiz basically provides simple instructions on how to conduct yourself and to not take everything so personal. With the wisdom Miguel provides, we are able to grow in personal freedom, joy and love.
The Bible: The Bible gives me guidance on how to live my life. The book of Psalms, in particular, is filled with some beautiful poetry and passages that always resonate with me.
