Book Giveaway!
I am delighted to announce that Parker J. Palmer’s On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old – is our next Book Giveaway!
I’ve only read a few pages but I’m already hooked! Though he writes through the prism of aging, this book speaks to everyone, at any age. Such as in the following paragraph:
Age brings diminishments, but more than a few come with benefits. I’ve lost the capacity for multitasking, but I’ve rediscovered the joy of doing one thing at a time. My thinking has slowed a bit, but experience as made it deeper and richer. I’m done with big and complex projects, but more aware of the loveliness of simple things: a talk with a friend, a walk in the woods, sunsets and sunrises, a night of good sleep.
Reading it I feel somehow more at ease and hopeful about what the future holds and what I can put into place today. A welcome meditation for the day.
That said, I’m considering this post a two-fer: A Book Giveaway announcement and this week’s #Mindfulness Monday post. Enjoy – and be sure to sign up to win your own copy!
Subscribe to our blog by July 19th to win a copy of On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old. PLUS: Three free downloadable songs by Carrie Newcomer.
As a special thank you to our blog subscribers, each month we will give away autographed books by a wide range of authors and poets. Winners are picked randomly, notified by email, and announced on our blog and on Facebook. Be sure to subscribe to win!
About On the Brink of Everything
From beloved and bestselling author Parker J. Palmer comes a beautiful book of reflections on what we can learn as we move closer to “the brink of everything.”
Drawing on eight decades of life — and his career as a writer, teacher, and activist — Palmer explores the questions age raises and the promises it holds. “Old,” he writes, “is just another word for nothing left to lose, a time to dive deep into life, not withdraw to the shallows.”
But this book is not for elders only. It encourages adults of all ages to explore the way their lives are unfolding. It’s not a how-to-do-it book on aging, but a set of meditations in prose and poetry that turn the prism on the meaning(s) of one’s life, refracting new light at every turn.
From beginning to end, the book is laced with humor as well as gravitas. It is beautifully enhanced by three free downloadable songs from the gifted singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer, written in response to themes in the book.
About Parker J. Palmer
Parker J. Palmer is a writer, teacher and activist whose work speaks deeply to people in many walks of life. He is founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal. His books include: “A Hidden Wholeness,” “Let Your Life Speak,” “The Courage to Teach,” “To Know as We Are Known,” “The Company of Strangers,” “The Promise of Paradox,” “The Heart of Higher Education,” and “Healing the Heart of Democracy.” He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as thirteen honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. In 1998, the Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 educators, named him one of the thirty most influential senior leaders in higher education and one of the ten key agenda-setters of the past decade. In 2010, he received the William Rainey Harper Award (previously won by Margaret Mead, Marshall McLuhan, Paulo Freire, and Elie Wiesel). Also, in 2005, Jossey-Bass published “Living the Questions: Essays Inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer.” In 2011, the Utne Reader named him as one of “25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World”–people who “don’t just think out loud but who walk their talk on a daily basis.” (See the Oct-Nov 2011 print or online edition.) He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
About Carrie Newcomer
“I’m delighted and honored that three of my songs are woven into Parker’s book, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old. The songs emerged from our friendship, creative collaboration, and conversations about our own growing edges.”
Carrie Newcomer is a Grammy-winning songwriter, recording artist, performer, educator, and activist. She has been described as a “prairie mystic” by the Boston Globe, and one who “asks all the right questions” by Rolling Stone. Carrie has 16 nationally released albums on Available Light & Concord/Rounder including The Beautiful Not Yet, A Permeable Life, and The Geography of Light. Newcomer has also released two companion books of poetry & essays, A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays and The Beautiful Not Yet: Poems, Essays & Lyrics. Newcomer’s first theatrical production, Betty’s Diner: The Musical, recently produced by Purdue University, is now available to interested theaters, universities, and spiritual communities. Her 2017 PBS special, An Evening with Carrie Newcomer, with commentary by Parker J. Palmer, is currently playing across the USA. Newcomer was a cultural ambassador to India and has traveled to Kenya and the Middle East, performing in concert halls, hospitals, schools, and spiritual communities. She has lent her support to organizations focused on social justice, health and hunger services, progressive spirituality, and environmental preservation. She lives in the woods with her husband and two shaggy dogs. For information about Carrie’s touring schedule, CDs, and books, visit her site.
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