Western Rambler: A Few Highlights of the Last Mountain Ramble

Monday, October 4, 2010

A Few Highlights of the Last Mountain Ramble

The alpacas, Levi, Reese, Vinnie and Junio, from left to right

The llama, Hummer, and the two pygora goats, Marguerite and Bonk

The outdoor kitchen

My sleeping quarters

The Water Vehicle (a Cadillac hearse rigged with a very Mad Max style 200 gallon system in the back, complete with a tiny racing wheel and, yes, it handles like it wants to crash over these rutted dirt roads)

And of course my lovely sister Rose at farmer's market (I also have a stalwart soon-to-be oath-brother, Max, but for some reason I have no photos of him, and it's too bad because he looks as fierce as ever)...oh, and the jolly lady behind us is the phenomenal baker Gloria

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Latest Book Review

Facing Codependence: What It Is, Where It Comes from, How It Sabotages Our Lives by Pia Mellody

My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book focuses on the childhood origins of codependence, how dysfunction and abuse creates codependent adults. I found some of the information to be extremely helpful and made correlations of which I had previously been unaware. It was very useful for me personally to understand that clinginess and love-addiction are not the only traits of codependence, but also tendencies to create emotional barriers, inability to acknowledge one's own needs and enmeshing others' emotions with your own, among other things. Mellody outlines five major traits of codependence, which operate on either extreme: lack of self-esteem or arrogance (inability to esteem yourself from within), making oneself too vulnerable or erecting emotional walls (boundaries), self-destructiveness or perfectionism ("owning and expressing your own reality" or self-responsibility and self-acceptance), dependence or denial of your own needs (inability to meet your own needs and wants) and chaotic or controlling behavior (extreme modes of behavior as opposed to moderation). Her perspectives on a few issues I disagree with, for example, her conventional approach to gender and sexual preference. While attempting to be accepting of sexual preference, her approach is obviously heterosexual. Also, I disagree with some other things in the book, such as a disregard for the issues of race (one mention of race is made) and especially class. For example, perhaps Mom has to work all the time because the family is financially struggling to put food on the table, not because she's a workaholic. Though, the direct relation of a dysfunctional childhood to an inability to meet one's needs as a adult is laid out fairly clearly here. I would be interested find out about other books on codependence from the same perspective. View all my reviews >>