#NonFicNov: Worldview Changers

I love this new topic and I am looking forward to seeing what other readers have chosen!

Here’s the description: “One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is learning all kinds of things about our world which you never would have known without it. There’s the intriguing, the beautiful, the appalling, and the profound. What nonfiction book or books has impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Do you think there is one book that everyone needs to read for a better understanding of the world we live in?” Visit She Seeks Nonfiction for the linkup.

The choice was clear for me: in the last year and a bit, one book has done the most to change my views and re-orient me in a way that has truly transformed my life.

In It Didn’t Start With You, Mark Wolynn talks first about his personal journey with physical illness and family dysfunction. He then explains the science that shows how our ancestors’ experience can actually affect our DNA — not its basic structure, but the way it is expressed, and thus has a profound impact on our life. He follows up with stories and examples from his therapy practice, working with people who are dealing with generational trauma, and gives a sequence of exercises to follow to heal your own suffering that may actually be handed down from the past. In the process it is possible to heal relationships that may have been broken by such buried trauma, or at least to heal one’s inner stance to relieve the physical and psychological pain that they have caused.

I was skeptical at first, but after putting the book away for half a year I read it again. Then I did the exercises and also had an online session with one of Wolynn’s associates (he also does consultations himself, but it was a 6 month wait). And slowly I did begin to see results, a lifting of burdens that had weighed upon me for my whole life, and a new perspective that changed the way I deal with my closest relationships, which are also sometimes the hardest. I feel as though I’m just at the beginning of this journey, but I am sure it is a good direction that I’ve been pointed in, and look forward to further discoveries.

I can’t say this way is necessarily for everyone or that everything stated in the book is true. I can only say that it did change my worldview in a way that feels positive and healthy for me. If you are drawn to such a topic, I can highly recommend it. I sincerely hope that more and more research will be done, so that healing can take place across the generations. I think this is so needed in our suffering world.

What would you choose for this theme? What nonfiction books have rocked your world?

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18 thoughts on “#NonFicNov: Worldview Changers

  1. I’ve loved this category too and visiting around to see the great books recommended! Books really can change our worldview and make a huge difference. I’m glad that this book did for you! I read the Kindle sample when you first recommended it and have it on my tbr list.

    1. Keep it on there till the time is right, it took me a while to really warm to the concept but it did come to mean a lot to me in the end.

  2. That’s very interesting. I had mainly social justice books this year but there have been ones that have changed my personal outlook, too – probably most notably whichever Oliver Sacks book he first mentioned face-blindness in!

  3. I have heard so many people were fascinated by this book! I can absolutely see how it would make you stop and think!

    1. It really helped me to change one incorrect element in my thinking and that has opened up new possibilities. I love when that happens!

  4. It Didn’t Start With You sounds so interesting and really important. I liked getting your journey with it too! Thanks for the thoughtful introduction to that one.

  5. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, Lory! Despite knowing that there’s some evidence epigenetic changes can be inherited, I have to admit to a skeptical reaction to this one myself. I’m glad it worked for you and I appreciate the reminder to keep an open mind. Sometimes scientifically surprising things turn out to be true 🙂

    1. The important point, for me, was not to reject your parents because you connect some kind of hurt in your life with them. Keeping an open mind and being willing to investigate with compassionate inquiry, within as well as outside yourself, is the key. That’s a kind of scientific investigation we can all stand to take up, I think.

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