Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

The following post is taken directly from my hand-printed Reader's Journal. I will be sharing these reflections each week on the Rivera Runs Through It blog. The date at the end of each post is the date of the original writing, which is typically the date I completed the book. The reflections are short, but represent my initial reactions to a book, a brief summary of the book or the questions it raised for me at the time. I hope you enjoy this segment in my blog and feel free to comment on what you read here.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

(read sometime in July 2003)
I am quite upset that I did not write in my Reader's Journal right after finishing this book, but I was drowning in school work. I loved this book and happened to be reading it at the perfect time. I found myself going through much of the same self-realization as Siddartha while I took my Philosophy course. I probably will read this book again in order to fully absorb its message. I highly recommend this book, but I do think you have to be in the right mood in order to get into it.

Dated: 11/25/03

When was the last time you felt that you were on a similar journey as a character in a book you were reading at the time? 

What was the book and did it help you or distract you from your own goals?

What IF...?

A long, long time ago when I was but a wee girl in high school, an English teacher of mine said, "You know, ladies and gentlemen, 'IF' is the word in the middle of life," and then he walked over to the chalkboard and wrote the following:

L-IF-E

I loved it. I continue to love it. Did the creators of the English language embed this little gem for us when they first decided to spell the word life? I doubted it, but there it was, that little preposition that has so many of us pondering throughout our entire existence.

As of late (probably because I have been storing up all kinds of creative juices by not being in the classroom for a whole year) I have been getting inundated by a lot of "What if...?" scenarios in my head. While they continue to build and crowd up my head, it has come to my attention that these are perfect writing opportunities!

I will post my first What If Quandary (with my response) next Tuesday. I think it would be great if you came on by and joined in, gave your own response or shared a link to your own blog where you responded!

In the meantime, in preparation for all of this out-of-the-box thinking, what are your big "What IF" questions?

If you have a What IF? question you would like to submit as a possible future prompt, please do so in the Rivera Runs Through It Community What If discussion.