Positively Wyrd
Positively Wyrd
Harnessing the chaos in your life
About the Book
This is a personal development book with a difference - quite literally a weird one. Starting with a new way of looking at an old word, it merges chaos theory with transpersonal psychology to create something that's highly practical and that gives new power and new direction to the everyday confusions of life.
In Nordic tradition, the word 'wyrd' - or 'weird' - meant much the same as 'fate'. Like fate, it describes the fabric of our lives; yet whilst we always have the choice, there's always a twist which changes each one into something we don't expect. It's those twists that give our wyrd its weirdness; yet the real weirdness is that these 'messages from the wyrd' are always there to help us. We can ignore them, and wait passively - fatalistically - for life to change: which it probably never will. We can fight against them, try to wrest control of our life from the Fates: only to discover that control itself is nothing more than a myth. Or we can learn to work with life's weirdnesses - and use their help to weave the fabric of fate into a new form of our choosing. That's our choice; yet there's always that twist...
It might seem a weird way of working with the world, but unlike so many others it's one that does work. With commonsense and clarity, with humour and humanity, and with a strong emphasis on practice and personal experience, this book shows how to develop an affinity for the natural weirdness of life - and to make life positively wyrd.
The sequel to this book - Wyrd Allies: Harnessing the chaos in your relationships - is also available here on Leanpub.
About the Author
Table of Contents
-
Preface
- Acknowledgements
-
Introduction
- Using this book
-
1 Living in the dark
- “There’s a whole in my bucket…”
-
2 A weird kind of fate
- In the hands of fate
- A subtle hint of weirdness
- Weaving a different world
-
3 The senses taker
- Choosing not to choose
- Avoiding emotion
- Beliefs, feelings, senses
- A habit of choice
-
4 Everyone is to blame
- “You can’t get there from here”
- Tyrant and victim
- Who’s to blame?
- No-one is to blame
-
5 I am what I am
- Whose life is it, anyway?
- The ‘silliness barrier’
- The ‘tall poppy’ syndrome
- Strengths and weaknesses
-
6 Affirmative action
- The curse of belief
- An affirmative habit
- Into action
-
7 Wants and needs
- What do you want?
- We all want more money
- What do you need?
- What do you want from me?
- What do you need from you?
- “I’m a substitute for another guy…”
- Take aim…
-
8 Control and other myths
- Fear is a four-letter word
- I want to be powerful
- A different kind of power
- New Age, new illusions?
- A time to trust
-
9 Time to let go
- Non-attachment, non-detachment
- “Nobody’s perffect”
- Let go of knowing
- An end to suffering
-
10 All the fun of the fair
- Riding the roller-coaster
- The hall of mirrors
- Walking the tightrope
- Bring on the clowns!
-
11 One step at a time
- A state of survival
- Facing frustration
- Panics and priorities
- Re-accepting self
- The process of change
-
12 Weaving the threads of wyrd
- A web of connections
- The ordinariness of wyrd
- Do what you will
- …but be sure that you will it!
-
13 My word is my bond
- Choosing our words
- A question of commitment
- Doubt and discipline
- The role of religion
-
14 It’s all imaginary
- Real or imaginary?
- Invisible images
- Watch the details
- Real imagination
- Inventing the real world
-
15 Divine coincidence
- Cause and coincidence
- Everyday weirdness
- As above, so below
- Prediction and paradox
-
16 Dancing with our selves
- Stance and dance
- A dramatic gesture
- The flow of the dance
-
17 The art of empowerment
- As the muse takes us
- The art of listening
- Drawing our visions
- Words on the wind
-
18 We’re busy doing no-thing
- Allowing ourselves to notice
- When less is more
- Time to slow down
- Do it consciously
-
19 Which ‘I’ is me?
- What – or where – is ‘I’?
- Caught in the web
- A choice of boundaries
-
20 Stretching the boundaries
- Reclaiming the balance
- The export of blame
- Facing fear
- A world without walls
-
21 Self and others
- The sound of silence
- Being selfish
- Being self-reliant
- A web of choices
-
22 Relating
- Soulmates and cellmates
- Happy families?
- Friends and other allies
-
23 Working in a weird world
- A world of connections
- A world of confusions
- A world at work
-
24 It isn’t easy being green?
- A sense of value
- A sense of place
- A sense of healing
- A sense of trust
- 25 A wyrd way of life
-
Further reading
- Wyrd
- Self-exploration
- Philosophical perspectives
- Fiction
Authors have earned$10,321,882writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
The Leanpub 45-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
Continuous Delivery Pipelines
Dave FarleyThis practical handbook provides a step-by-step guide for you to get the best continuous delivery pipeline for your software.
- #2
Top 20 Digital Health Trends For The Near Future
Dr. Bertalan MeskoDigital technology could help transform unsustainable healthcare systems, provide cheaper, faster, and more effective solutions for diseases – and could lead to healthier individuals living in healthier communities.
In this book, we analyze the top 20 trends shaping the future of healthcare, and what they all look like in practice.
- #3
The Hundred-Page Machine Learning Book
Andriy BurkovEverything you really need to know in Machine Learning in a hundred pages.
- #4
Introducing EventStorming
Alberto BrandoliniThe deepest tutorial and explanation about EventStorming, straight from the inventor.
- #5
Atomic Kotlin
Bruce Eckel and Svetlana IsakovaFor both beginning and experienced programmers! From the author of the multi-award-winning Thinking in C++ and Thinking in Java together with a member of the Kotlin language team comes a book that breaks the concepts into small, easy-to-digest "atoms," along with exercises supported by hints and solutions directly inside IntelliJ IDEA!
- #6
C++20
Rainer GrimmC++20 is the next big C++ standard after C++11. As C++11 did it, C++20 changes the way we program modern C++. This change is, in particular, due to the big four of C++20: ranges, coroutines, concepts, and modules.
- #7
CCIE Service Provider Version 4 Written and Lab Exam Comprehensive Guide
Nicholas RussoThe service provider landscape has changed rapidly over the past several years. Networking vendors are continuing to propose new standards, techniques, and procedures for overcoming new challenges while concurrently reducing costs and delivering new services. Cisco has recently updated the CCIE Service Provider track to reflect these changes; this book represents the author's personal journey in achieving that certification.
- #8
Hacking your way around in Emacs
Marcin BorkowskiThis is an intermediate textbook on Emacs Lisp. Learn how to write you own commands and make Emacs truly your editor, suited to your needs!
- #9
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
- #10
Visualise, document and explore your software architecture
Simon BrownA short guide to visualising, documenting and exploring your software architecture.
Top Bundles
- #1
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #2
CCIE Service Provider Ultimate Study Bundle
2 Books
Piotr Jablonski, Lukasz Bromirski, and Nick Russo have joined forces to deliver the only CCIE Service Provider training resource you'll ever need. This bundle contains a detailed and challenging collection of workbook labs, plus an extensively detailed technical reference guide. All of us have earned the CCIE Service Provider certification... - #4
9 Books-Bundle: Shut Up and Code!
9 Books
"Shut up and code." Laughter in the audience. The hacker had just plugged in his notebook and started sharing his screen to present his super-smart Python script. "Shut up and code" The letters written in a white literal coding font on black background was the hackers' home screen background mantra. At the time, I was a first-year computer... - #7
Practical Foundations of Debugging, Disassembling, Reversing
2 Books
The books teach assembly language foundations necessary for deep debugging and program reconstruction. They are useful for: - Software technical support and escalation engineers; - Software engineers coming from different backgrounds, OS, and programming/debugging environments; - Software testers; - C/C++ software engineers without assembly... - #8
Software Architecture and Design Practice Reference
2 Books
Dive deeper in Software Architecture with the Design Practice Reference. Learn all about software architecture and design from the books in this bundle:Software Architecture covers topics from quality attributes to designing and modeling components, interfaces, connectors, and containers, all the way to services and microservices. The Design... - #10
Mastering Containers
2 Books
Docker and Kubernetes are taking the world by storm! These books will get you up-to-speed fast! Docker Deep Dive is over 400 pages long, and covers all objectives on the Docker Certified Associate exam.The Kubernetes Book includes everything you need to get up and running with Kubernetes!
