I’ve gotten out of the habit of watching PBS analysts going back and forth in the NewsHour since my favorite Mark Shields died. His parrying with New York Times essayist David Brooks always brought a new perspective to whatever was happening in the world.
Reading David Brooks’ book How to Know a Person is forcing me to think again. I’m tempted to jot down his questions and carry them in my wallet, but there are too many to fit.
A few I want to remember he describes as “big questions (that) interrupt the daily routines people fall into and prompt them to see their life from a distance.” Perhaps you’d join me in pondering a few.
1. “What crossroads are you at? At any moment, most of us are in the middle of a transition.” Mine has been crystallized with loss. None of Brooks’ references or examples help, but he really didn’t mean them to. After all, it’s personal, and we all have to figure it out for ourselves. But his stories are enlightening and encouraging.
2. “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?“ Covid changed how I act, where I go, what I do. How about you? Are you getting braver?
3. “Can you be yourself where you are and still fit in?” It’s comforting to know others may appreciate this issue.
Through chapters mixed with psychotherapy references as well as acute observations, Brooks explains how to be yourself by appreciating who others really are. He offers questions for probing through the superficial protective masks we all wear, and admonishes us to wake up and be real.
Apart from his opinions, which are Brooks’ stock in trade, he creates stories as examples as he progresses through seventeen chapters from the power of being seen to empathy and finally to wisdom.
With his unique style, Brooks creates not a self-help book but rather his philosophical approach to living a better life by asking the right questions and being present as you really listen to the answers – something we could all try. I hope to.
The No Charge Book Bunch 