Where we begin
Did you ever stop to think about how near-forgotten childhood experiences might be (or probably are) impacting your adult life? You know those voices that talk to you in the middle of the night or when you’re driving? Or even when you are trying to make a big or bold decision about something? Are they compassionate? Do they fill your head with negative thoughts? Or with fear? Self-doubt? And the biggest question of all is where did all those voices come from?
The Author
Dr. Lawrence Lincoln, author of Reclaiming Banished Voices, went on a journey to try to figure it all out. Once he started this journey, he gradually discovered that injured and neglected children often take revenge on the least dangerous person in their universe: themselves. He found that, as a result of those “injuries” we banish the most vulnerable, frightened and tender parts of ourselves so that we are never hurt again. Larry draws you in from the very beginning with a very powerful story about how a 5-year-old boy unexpectedly appeared on the scene when he was participating in a workshop conducted by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, author of the best-selling book On Death and Dying. He was that 5-year-old boy and came to realize how a single incident in his life at the tender age of five, shaped his life forever. And he hadn’t a clue.
Cultivating Compassion
Reclaiming Banished Voices is filled with stories and teachings that illustrate the consequences of self-sabotage to our personal lives, our relationships and society. This book gets inside your head and makes you want to read on, learn more, discover your banished voices and then apply the techniques Larry offers in the book to help us reclaim our full selves, and live a connected and fulfilling life. Larry is open and honest and includes very personal stories about his relationship with himself, his wife, his children and even his grandchildren. Why? Because he is convinced that the cultivation of compassion and self-forgiveness helps us to understand the brokenness of those who have hurt us. And Larry is right there, inside your head, helping you discover and heal. This book will help you reclaim voices from the past and help you learn what to do with them in order to live a more fully-engaged life.
Looking Inside
Larry includes in the book a quote from C.G. Jung that really stood out for me. Jung invites us all to look inside, see what we find and awaken: “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” It is a journey worth taking.
Disclaimer
The last thing in the world I want this review to convey is that Reclaiming Banished Voices is simply a self-help book. It’s not. It’s a feel-good book, a book that grabs your heart, sucks you in and takes care of you once you are in there. It’s a book that makes you feel safe about going deeper. It’s a book you will want to keep and re-read so you can stay on the important journey of true love of self and love of others.
Learn more about Reclaiming Banished Voices and Dr. Larry Lincoln on this September 2018 podcast with Mrs. Green.
Purchase your copy of Reclaiming Banished Voices here
From about the age of five, Gina has been on the path of being a disruptor for good. A dreamer at heart, Gina is madly and passionately in love with this great planet of ours and is tireless in her efforts to preserve it.