Book Review of More or Less by Jeff Shinabarger

More or Less by Jeff Shinabarger

I think most of us don’t think of ourselves as being rich or of having enough money to make our lives more complete. In this book by Jeff Shinabarger, the author challenges this mindset, directly stating that ‘Chances are, if you are reading this book, you are rich’ (2013). By “rich”, he means that we have all we need to live a normal fulfilling life. He challenges us as the reader to look at our own situations carefully and think about all the excess possessions we don’t really need to have. This book is not simply about the author sharing theoretical ideas that we can contemplate, he shows us practical ways how to turn our excess possessions into generosity towards others.

          Shinabarger’s encounter with Clarence, a local homeless man, who welcomes him after he moves into his new house in East Atlanta village is the pivotal moment when the author is forced to change his way of thinking and to ask himself the question ‘what is enough?’ He begins by examining his own comfortable financial and material position and contrasts it with Clarence who is homeless. When Clarence asks for help, he does so and also uncovers other ways to help those who need it.

          Through a series of stories and his own personal anecdotes, the author explains real life examples of the things we can do to help people that we know either personally or not. At the end of each chapter, there is the ‘Enough Talk’ section that offers practical ideas, which the reader is encouraged to undertake. The first task the author himself does is to live for one month on all of the food in his home. Amazingly, he manages to survive on this for about two months (147 meals, 3 meals a days for 7 weeks) proving that there was so much food in his house that he and his wife had kept in storage. This is just the first of many examples he gives to show the excess in his life that many of us have in common in some way.

          Different chapters focus on different areas of our lives that we can look at and change. Clothes, presents and other material possessions are looked at from the point of view that invites the reader to take at look at his / her own life and the excesses we may have. A personal success of the author is Gift Card Giver, a scheme devised to collect unwanted or unused gift cards in order to then donate them to others who are worse off than we are. This has been immensely successful with enormous amounts of money raised to help out people who need this.  This is a prime example of how we can use our excess things of value to help those who need it.

This book is a motivating read for those looking to get some ideas on how to connect with other people and also to have a look at themselves from a different perspective. It offers refreshing ideas on how to make changes in our lives and encourages us to lead by example, which will then have a knock on effect on others. Shinabarger’s book is refreshingly honest as the author admits moments when he felt that things were not quite right in his own life. The most empowering element about this book is that he changed and there are many other examples of how other people also did something positive with their lives. I recommend this book for all those out there who are looking for some practical ideas on how to be more generous and how to be connected with other people in their communities and elsewhere. It is sometimes hard to believe that little gestures can make a big difference but this is something that Shinabarger argues against in this book. Through his examples and suggestions, he challenges us to contemplate what we can do to make a difference, however small that may be. It has certainly made me think about the excess in my life. Now it's time to do something about it.

More or Less, (2013) Jeff Shinabarger, Published by David C. Cook, Canada.

Writing From Experience Or Not?

It seems I haven't written in a long, long time and that is true. The last entry was in November last year. Since writing about the cycling tripI went on, I haven't had any travel adventures besides a trip home for the Christmas period. The lack of travel has brought a question to mind - is it necessary to experience in order to write and in my case, does traveling aid creativity?

A few years ago I took part in a Literature course in Dublin. There was a fantastic professor who had a wonderful knowledge of the subject and the ability to portray this in a very interesting manner. One of the books we looked at was Black List Section H by Francis Stuart, an Irish writer who went to Germany during World War II. He went there to experience the horrific events that were taking place at that time and to write about this. He even took up a post working for the Nazi regime. The professor proceeded to talk about the influence the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had on Francis Stuart. He explained that the philosopher used the Greek characters, Apollo and Dionysius to show the different ways of gaining inspiration. Apollo is the restrained one and represents creativity emanating from imagination alone whereas, Dionysius is excessive and reckless representing creativity from experience. 

The reaction from my classmates was very crtitical and they the majority stated that this was completely immoral. While I totally agree, I still find it interesting to read about what this Irish writer did in order to gain the experience to then write about it. There are some people with very imaginative minds who can conjure up stories and songs effortlessly but others need something to happen in order to write about it. 

I don't plan to go on any trips to dangerous war-torn countries but perhaps a trip of some sort would give me something to write about.