Green Eggs and Ham

First, I love how in the introduction Pearce admits that he just flat-out ignores arguments that don't help his purpose and  then justifies it by stating how science, religion, and politics all use this method. Already I can tell he's a very smart man and I look forward to studying what he has to say. 

In the introduction, Pearce also says he wrote this book for that person "who cannot stand where he is and has no place to go." And in a sense, I think that statement  describes most people. Isn't it human nature to never be satisfied and constantly looking for the next level? So for those who have no religion to work their way through, where else is there to go?

The concept Pearce explains through his wife's cancer relating to her family's battle with history is not new to me. The idea that thoughts control us by attracting positive or negative energy recently captivated my mother when she read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, which she then attempted to shove down my family's throats. While neither my father, my brother, nor I read The Secret or watched the movie she bought us for Christmas, we all have a grasp on the concept of how our thoughts relate to energy. My mother, a cognitive therapist (fitting, isn't it?), finds a way to work this concept into daily conversation. For example, if she finds a good parking spot at the mall, she will declare, "See, I have The Secret! Alli, maybe if you had The Secret, you would *insert improvement of my life here*." So now I can tell my mom that I do have The Secret; I just don't call it that because "The Secret" is an ancient theory that Rhonda Byrne has recycled to make money off of people like my mother, whom I love dearly.

I also really like Pearce's way of using images to explain himself. For example when he speaks of the proverbial clearing in the forest, I can picture it and a vague, foreign concept becomes clearer. I also believe the clearing in the forest is an effective metaphor, with the clearing being what we know and are comfortable with, or what we define as reality (which is all relative, right?), and the rest of the forest being a place yet undiscovered. And really, who would stay in the safe, but known and sometimes boring clearing when there is a whole forest of adventures out there to explore?

Pearce explains autistic creative thinking as the link that connects the clearing and the forest. This thinking is not what we think of when we think of our normal thought process, but  rather something that happens to us. It is an experience or an "illumination".  This happening has happened to me before as a writer. For a few days or weeks I'll be starting a poem or story and I'll be unable to continue. Then out of nowhere, I feel the urge to pull out my notebook and continue, but it's odd, because I feel disconnected. Almost like someone or something was controlling me. So often when writing I feel as though I'm not in control of the words spilling out of my fingertips (when typing--Obviously words aren't flowing out of my fingertips if I'm using pencil and paper. That sounds like that would  be a mess.). I'm excited to get more in depth into this subject and learn what goes on in those types of situations.