Running from Safety: An Adventure of the Spirit

I didn't actually finish it. When I was growing up in the 80's, Bach was a best-selling author to whom many of us ran when we realized that we were "out-of-the-box" thinkers. I can't speak for everyone who dog-eared a copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull or Illusions, but I remember thinking later "oh, that's new age mumbo-jumbo for teens." Something to flip through for nostalgia reasons. But this book kinda fell into my lap and I well--my curiosity was sparked. Had he evolved with the readers who pored over his 70's and 80's work, or was he still--well--self-righteous and smarmy? The answer is mostly to the right of the equation. The basic schtick is "what if you could meet yourself when you were a tyke?" It almost works, because most show more of us do forget so much of our childhood. It does a good job of jogging these memories. But Bach's relationship with his semi-fictional wife is nauseating. Turns out the real Bach's been divorced numerous times. I'm sure he'd drive a woman crazy...maybe even moreso than Tarantino. show less

I didn't actually finish it. When I was growing up in the 80's, Bach was a best-selling author to whom many of us ran when we realized that we were "out-of-the-box" thinkers. I can't speak for everyone who dog-eared a copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull or Illusions, but I remember thinking later "oh, that's new age mumbo-jumbo for teens." Something to flip through for nostalgia reasons. But this book kinda fell into my lap and I well--my curiosity was sparked. Had he evolved with the readers who pored over his 70's and 80's work, or was he still--well--self-righteous and smarmy? The answer is mostly to the right of the equation. The basic schtick is "what if you could meet yourself when you were a tyke?" It almost works, because most show more of us do forget so much of our childhood. It does a good job of jogging these memories. But Bach's relationship with his semi-fictional wife is nauseating. Turns out the real Bach's been divorced numerous times. I'm sure he'd drive a woman crazy...maybe even moreso than Tarantino. show less

Who is your inner child? What would your conversation look like if you could converse?
What decisions did that child make, all those years ago, that still impact you today?
Richard Bach explores this in a wonderful journey that reaches from a dry lake bed to the stars. Along the way resonant truths are expounded that immediately settle into the "I've known this all my life, but forgot until now" kind.

Richard Bach fulfills a promise to his childhood self, Dickie Bach, to teach him everything he learned from living. Richard had been a frightened child. He meets with his childhood self in order to understand and in some cases put to rest his earlier life thereby increasing the satisfaction in his current life.

In this warm adventure of the mind and soul, Richard Bach approaches eternal questions, such as Who are we? What do we want to get out of our lives? What are we doing to achieve this? Do we have to be victims, rather than masters, of circumstance? How do we learn to love? Running from Safety: An Adventure of the Spirit is a diary that combines childhood memories and reflections about how to search for meaning in life. It is based on talking with your inner child. Lost me at the 3/4 mark...

I would read this again.

If the child we were asked us today for the best we've learned from living, what would we tell, and what would we discover in return?
This book is wonderful. Richard travels into his childhood, to confront Richie, locked away in a room where Richard left him, because of painful events that happened. When he meets himself as the little boy Richie, he encounters a very angry little boy. He is angry because he feels Richard abandoned him, leaving him alone to deal with childhood issues. Richard opens up once again upon very private and somewhat painful issues, that he fights to confront and deal with, which he does magnificently.
He ties all of his other books in with this one, realizing who some of the other characters in other books are show more and how they relate to the now and to little Richie.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/rbsite2000/_private/R_Bach/books/ show less