Secrets
Several years ago I became interested in porn star Sara J, for reasons beyond the obvious. I’ve never met or communicated with her. I was intrigued partly because she reminded me in a general way of high school classmates. I also sense a total commitment, a passion for her chosen profession, as if she is a student of it. I found a written online interview with her and, when asked about a favorite book, she mentioned The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, an Australian. I wondered if she were being truthful, if she simply did not want to come off as a non-reader. I sent her a tweet asking if she wanted to do a bio. She or her staff did not respond. I know my motive wasn’t pure but I have always been curious about what makes a porn star tick, and she seems very intelligent, a great subject for such a work. Maybe there isn’t much more behind it than the love of sex and money. In my Class of ’67 novella, the main character refers to her as a 21st Century uber-woman. Is that what I believe? I don’t know her at all, but society has changed. Whether one disapproves of porn is irrelevant. It is mainstream, viewed by millions. Is it erroneous to believe someone like SJ is a new kind of modern woman? One of the interesting aspects of the interview was her saying she had her mom’s full support but was worried that her step dad might find out. At first her husband did not object to her chosen path, but that changed and they split. I find those revelations fascinating. Anyway, several copies of The Secret have been donated to the floating book shop through the years and all quickly sold. Since I’m skeptical of the self help genre and among the least spiritual of people, I passed on reading it. Maybe I resisted because of Sara J’s touting it. Well, since the shop’s inventory is at its max, I finally put a copy aside. I finished it this morning. It is positive, upbeat and deliberately simplistic, its 184 pages reading like considerably less. It’s themes can be broken down into familiar phrases. “Ask and ye shall receive” sums it up nicely. Byrne and the myriad proponents she quotes believe in the law of attraction. They see the universe as a vast source of good that is easily tapped. Simply ask it for whatever you desire and, if you truly believe, it will come your way, be it wealth, health or romance. I’ve been experimenting with it the past few days. It’s too soon to know the effects, and in the end it may be impossible to determine if positive results, at least in terms of my literary efforts, are simply the result of persistence. I’ve asked for more book sales, better vision and hearing, relief from hemorrhoids, and stable BP and cholesterol numbers. It seems ridiculous, I know, but what do I have to lose? The problem is that I probably don’t believe deep down, so maybe that negates the potential. The book touts positive thinking and gratitude, which everyone should practice. One thing I’d never believe is that the victim of an accident or disease attracted it. Someone obeying traffic laws and killed by another who has run a red light or stop sign has not attracted it, nor does a young person attract a fatal illness. Also, I’m skeptical of anything that claims to cover everything. Still, I enjoyed the book despite its repetitiveness. Here are snippets: “You cannot harm another with your thoughts, only you.” I’ve always believed we all are our own worst enemy. “There is abundance for everybody and it is each person’s responsibility to summon their own desires.” I like that the book does not condemn desire for wealth. “Everything in the universe is connected. It is just one energy field.” People on opposite sides of the political spectrum might dispute that, but it doesn’t sound any more outrageous than other religious or mystical beliefs. Byrne, now 75, has reaped a goldmine from DVD and book sales. The work has been translated into 40 languages and is still selling well. She has followed it up with four others. 19,000+ readers at Amazon have rated The Secret, forging to a consensus of 4.5 on a scale of five. Since my experimenting is in the early stages, I will not rate it. Whatever happens, I believe it’s a valuable read. Here’s the author as a young woman:
And this is Sara J:
I don’t know if it was the law of attraction, but a lot came the way of the floating book shop today. My thanks to Crazy Joe, scourge of NYC talk radio hosts, who bought ten works of non-fiction; and to the woman who selected a Sidney Sheldon novel in Russian; and to the gentleman who purchased two thrillers in that language; and to the four ladies who donated books, every one of them marketable. Here’s some of what sold: When Opposites Attract: Right Brain/Left Brain Relationships and How to Make Them Work by Rebecca Cutter; The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome by Tony Attwood; To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King’s Mission and its Meaning for America by Stewart Burns.
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