Posted on: April 19, 2019 Posted by: Kim Muncie Comments: 0

Christina Reeves and Dimitrios Spanos, co-authors of The Mind is the Map: Awareness is the Compass and Emotional is the Key to Living Mindfully from the Heart, bring a personal touch and considerable intellectual firepower to the aforementioned work. It is a condensed and focused book, clocking in at less than three hundred pages, and their tight aim on promoting a system oriented approach to realizing human potential likely means the effects of this volume will resonate for years to come with its readers. Despite delving into their own experiences to help push their take on living mindfully and expanding the possibilities of human consciousness, The Mind is the Map avoids bathos or any self indulgence.

Some readers will take a hard pass on the book’s relentless optimism. Reeves and Spanos alike often make it sound like their proposed design for living is within the realm of possibility if an interested party puts their plan into action. The book lacks significant respect for the psychology barriers often obstructing us from “living mindfully”, though they do pay some lip service to this reality. Despite the inherent optimism present in this work, Reeves and Spanos do not shirk the difficult self-examination necessary for achieving the goals outlined in The Mind is the Map; any objections I have center on the idea they believe it is possible for everyone. I am not convinced. Nonetheless, one cannot help but admire how they explore their aims with such completeness. It is obvious from the first few pages Reeves and Spanos alike immerse themselves in their point of view and they make their case with the conviction of a zealot, yet never preach to or hector their target audience. Their style is best described as exhortative, but it isn’t strident.

Despite the obvious knowledge Spanos and Reeves bring to the table, derived from personal experience and reading, The Mind is the Map never bogs down with academic stiffness. The authors, instead, structure the book more as an exchange between them and invite the reader to listen in without ever resorting to direct address. The prose style of the work has a relaxed air, conversational without ever seeming blasé, and the language remains accessible throughout while still challenging readers. I do have some objection to their reliance on posing questions for the reader throughout the entirety of the work, but I realize this is an essential component in framing the book’s arguments and its importance in demonstrating the sort of approach they believe interested parties should take regarding self-investigation.

This is a worthwhile read for anyone, particularly those with pre-existing grounding in these ideas, but I concede it will not appeal to everyone. No matter. The Mind is the Map is a thorough dive into a topic central to human experience and doesn’t often fall back on cliché; instead, Spanos and Reeves engage with the subject in a realistic way from the outset and discerning readers will recognize that from the start. I believe, furthermore, that they will find a lot here if they stick with the work through its conclusion.

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Map-Journey-Discovering-Treasure/dp/173220540X

Kim Muncie

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