The Blue House - Simmons, Michael

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Résumé :
This inspiring memoir by Michael Simmons highlights his mother's efforts to protect her children from her alcoholic, abusive husband. After a DWI results in him losing his job, Michael's father moves his family from Arkansas to Missouri, where losing another job means the family moves to a small house in the Arkansas countryside. His mother takes on picking cotton to earn money for the children's Christmas presents. Another job loss, another move: the stress and uncertainty in his family's life creates insecurity and loneliness for Mike. He is finally befriended by a woman who takes him to church with her and introduces him to God. The Blue House places Mike's experiences alongside insightful commentary by Dr. Daniel Middlebrooks, who observes the life lessons Mike learns in a manner that guides readers to examine their own lives and find answers to their questions in scripture and self-reflection.

Biographie:
Michael was raised middleclass in Massachusetts. He was a gifted athlete but struggled academically. He went to college on a lacrosse scholarship. During his second semester he experienced a spontaneous spiritual event known as a kundalini awakening. The traumatic event caused several symptoms of mental illness and forced him to leave school. He struggled with his spiritual awakening and drug and alcohol abuse for the next ten years. During this time, he took a kundalini teacher training course under the late Yogi Bhajan, received a biotechnology degree, and a bachelor's degree in biology. Eventually, Michael used orthomolecular therapy to repair his body and brain which allowed him to come off his medications.Kundalini energy is a natural part of the human body. The spiritual experience had a profound effect on Michael. He became smarter, ambitious, and it left him with a compulsion to learn. He believes through direct observation that this spiritual energy is used to unify the consciousness of the body with the I am or normal consciousness of the mind. Michael briefly worked in industries germane to his degrees. He also worked for adults struggling with mental illness as a health and wellness coordinator. It was working with this group of individuals that Michael was able to see the consequences and causes of poverty. Malnourishment, drug addiction, unstable living conditions and the absence of a support system were common challenges to their financial independence...

Sommaire:
This inspiring memoir by Michael Simmons highlights his mother's efforts to protect her children from her alcoholic, abusive husband. After a DWI results in him losing his job, Michael's father moves his family from Arkansas to Missouri, where losing another job means the family moves to a small house in the Arkansas countryside. His mother takes on picking cotton to earn money for the children's Christmas presents. Another job loss, another move: the stress and uncertainty in his family's life creates insecurity and loneliness for Mike. He is finally befriended by a woman who takes him to church with her and introduces him to God. The Blue House places Mike's experiences alongside insightful commentary by Dr. Daniel Middlebrooks, who observes the life lessons Mike learns in a manner that guides readers to examine their own lives and find answers to their questions in scripture and self-reflection....