This morning, I awoke to my third day of comtemplating The Traveler’s Gift. There are Seven Decisions that determine personal success, according to author, Andy Andrews. (I would link to the book on Amazon, but I’m a little mad at him right now.)

As part of applying the concepts to my life, I committed to working through each of the seven decisions for 21 days each, per the suggestion in the book. I plotted it on my calendar, how many days I would be working on each principle. I wanted to write about each one in a variety of ways until they are ingrained on my heart – so powerful are they – and so vividly did this book speak to my heart.

I set up a Google Alert for anyone mentioning Andy Andrews on the internet, because I thought I might find other people blogging their experiences, and I could join them in learning, applying these gifts, and in conversation about the book. This morning, came the news that Andy Andrews has written a new book that is debuting in 7th place on the New York Time Best Seller List, called “How do you kill 11 Million people?” From what I’ve read just now, it is supremely political and the Right Wing Radicals are going crazy over it because it likens the Obama Administration to the Nazi Regime.

And, so, I have to call it quits. My little weeklong love affair with this book and this author are officially over.

I was talking to my husband about how sad I feel, because I’ve already started recommending The Traveler’s Gift to people. I’ve highly recommended it. And I guess, I still feel just as strongly that this particular book is amazing. I learned a lot from it. I will be applying the things I learn, I just won’t be writing a lot about it in a public forum because now I’m disillusioned with the author.

My husband is so good to me. He realizes the delicate balance that sometimes plays out in the mind and heart of an artist. He has talked me down from emotional cliffs before, or as he says, helped me put all my peanuts back in a pile. He helped me see that this is a huge learning experience. I tend to jump on board – hook, line and sinker – with a person, be they an author, or some other leader of thought. It is important for me to realize that I can learn from any situation. I can learn from someone with wildly different views than my own. I can be impressed with the way a person thinks – to the degree that I’m taking notes and aligning myself with that person in many ways – and still disagree with him on other very important issues.

Honestly, this morning, I’m a little disgusted that I could have been so impressed with someone, who turns around and writes about our President in such a damning way, but that is where I get to draw my line. That is where I get to draw a circle in the sand around my footing, and say, this is what I believe. I can discuss all sorts of things with you. I can agree with you in many ways. I can be seriously impressed with your writing style, but on these points, I’m standing my ground. I will not be swayed from my convictions by your beautiful speech.

It has been quite a long time since I’ve had someone on a pedestal and then seen them fall on their face so quickly. I guess I should have known, when as part of The Traveler’s Gift, the author sees himself through his character, in the future, and there are giant buildings built by his legacy, streets named after him, and the whole glittering city seems to revolve around him. That right there should have been my first clue!

Truth be told, I am still a fan of this one book of his that I’ve read – The Traveler’s Gift. I am just wildly disappointed by him as a person after the reviews I’ve read about his new book – it seems he’d like to get inside people’s heads in a fearmongering way and tell people how to vote, and for sure, it’s to the far right side of the equation. I’m not excited about that.

Adventures in learning! It can be a rollercoaster. I’ve known this all my life, why does it still surprise me?

photo from here.