#57 / What I Found In The Library Box

On one of my typical walks around Santa Cruz I routinely pass a "little free libary" located at the corner of Windsor and South Branciforte. I almost always check to see what is on offer. Sometimes, I find a book I like and take it away. Other times, I leave a book, to even up the score. 

On a Saturday in January, a month or so ago, I opened up the little glass door and saw a slim volume with the name Carolyn Atkinson on the spine. "Wait a minute," I thought. "I know Carolyn Atkinson - at least, if it's the same Carolyn Atkinson I know."

Turns out it was! In fact, our children grew up together, and Carolyn's two sons were my own son's best friends. One of Carolyn's sons became an environmental attorney. One became a physician, practicing in Santa Cruz. Carolyn was a potter, first, and then an acupuncturist, and she is now the Head Teacher at Everyday Dharma Zen Center in Santa Cruz. 

Carolyn Atkinson's book, A Light in the Mind: Living Your Life Just as It Is, was published in 2010. I never knew!

Well, now I do know, and now I have read Carolyn's book. Let me recommend it, right here, and give you a sample (see below). I think you will probably have to buy your own copy. I can't promise that a copy will be found in every "little free library" book box you might encounter on your own walks around the city. Still, considering the abundant wisdom you will encounter in what Carolyn has to say, the price is not excessive. You can get Carolyn's book at Bookshop Santa Cruz:

My friends ... For the most part, we cannot choose what happens to us. We cannot choose the content of external events. But we can choose how we will direct our minds. We can choose the process of our own minds. We are what we think. The way we experience life arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world. 

Image Credit:

https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/lip/light-mind-carolyn-atkinson