Here’s a small selection of books I’ve read in 2024, some new, some not, but all important.
What did you read in 2024 and what will you read in 2025 to expand your mind?
Author Archives: Darrick Dean
How Far will the Darkness Take Her?
Her city was put to the fire; her family enslaved. For centuries she served the shadowmancer. Now, he too has been taken from her.
The Source must be reopened and the Lost Continent released. The Day of Darkness once came and nearly destroyed humanity.
It will come again and she will have her revenge.
Awakening, Watchers of the Light Book 2 out now.
#ChooseASide #DarknessIsComing #WhoIsTheNewShadowmancer?
Never Settle For Less
“What’s the world’s greatest lie?” the boy asked, completely surprised.
“It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.” – From The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
The end of the year is always the perfect time to ask this question:
Have you found your Purpose?
Coelho calls it pursing your Personal Legend. I call it finding your part in the Story.
You Purpose is what you are gifted to do. It’s why you are in this world. It may be simple, it may be complex. It may be your career, or it might not be.
Chances are you know what it is. There is also a chance you gave up on it. You have excuses, rationalizations, reasons. All of them are fake. Many forces in the world conspire to tell you the Lie. Other forces remind you it is a lie.
“’Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.” – Tim Ferriss
I like re-reading The Alchemist this time a year. It’s a modern classic. It will implore you to take stock of where you are in your Story. Or, perhaps, it will remind you to start writing – and living – your Story. Never, ever, stop fighting for what your meant to be.
Never settle for less.
“You can settle for a less than ordinary life. Or do you feel like you were meant for something better? Something special? I dare you to do better.” – Captain Pike to Jim Kirk, Star Trek (2009)
Categories: What You Can Do
Tags: Paulo Coelho, Personal Legend, purpose, Story, The Alchemist
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The Eternal Struggle Between Light and Darkness
“Among the Shadows: Watchers of the Light Book 1 by Darrick Dean is a fascinating and epic fantasy adventure that will captivate readers who crave stories of heroism, self-discovery, and the eternal struggle between light and darkness, making it a perfect fit for fans of fantasy and historical fiction who enjoy tales of courage, friendship, and the battle between good and evil.” – StoryGraph
Categories: Books, fantasy, Fiction, Writing
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The Health Revolution is Growing, Are You In?
“The food pyramid is the most dangerous document created.” – Calley Means
American health is in a downward spiral. We abandoned common sense science and allowed companies and politicians redefine reality. We are now paying for it dearly in an exponential increase of chronic disease, reduced lifespan, and declining fertility.
Do yourself a favor and listen to Chris Williamson‘s interview with Calley Means and take control of your health.
Categories: health
Tags: Calley Means, Chris Williamson, fiat food, Matthew Lysiak, natalie brunell
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The Last Redemption
“I’d like to tell you this is a story of a group of heroes, but that’s not true.”
It’s great seeing more indie films challenging Hollywood. As technology puts filmmaking into more hands, and Hollywood is losing billions, a new generation of filmmakers are rising up. They don’t have big budgets, but for those who invest in new Hollywood (audience included), you can rescue entertainment.
Your Health was Traded for Wealth: Will You Take it Back?
Virtually every chronic disease is preventable. Their common link: The food we eat. What we were told was safe and healthy to eat wasn’t based on science, but on corporate capture. That is, corporations funded the studies, wrote the government standards.
Your health traded for money.
Now we are paying for it. Drastic increases in chronic diseases. Fertility and birth rates dropping dramatically. People fighting over “reproductive rights” during this election season might want to ponder over this. No one is going to be able to reproduce. Ever see the dystopian film Children of Men? It’s coming true. The integrity of our health and food supply should be an issue that brings everyone together.
Casey Means and Calley Means have truly opened the eyes of millions. Is it enough to reverse the growing disaster? Will people put aside their differences – both real and imagined – before it’s too late?
Categories: Critical Thinking, education, health
Tags: birth rates, Calley Means, Casey Means, chronic disease, corporate capture, disease, food, Good Energy, reproduction
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Make Money to Buy Stuff…or to Live?
“Money…is still needed to survive, but time is what you need to live. So, save what little money you possess to meet basic survival requirements, but spend your time lavishly in order to create life values that make the fire worth the candle.” – Rolf Potts, Vagabonding
Do you work to live, or do work to pay for things and maintain appearances?
Let me put it another way, do you have fancy things (houses, cars, toys), but can’t buy real furniture or go on a vacation?
Do you spend money to impress people, or use money to have experiences?
Does a large percentage of your income go to maintain stuff, or does it give you freedom?
Or as Thoreau wrote, are you spending “the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it” ?
Anyone can make money and buy things.
Few, though, seem to break the dual curses of materialism and waiting until retirement to “enjoy” life.
As Rolf Potts wrote, we are missing out on “weaving a tapestry of life experience that is much richer and more intricate than you could ever have imagined…“
Leave the World Behind
“Don’t be afraid to live your life with intense and deliberate essentiality, every day, all the time. However you can find connection to your moments, do it.” – Kourtney Thomas, “What I Learned From a No Social Media Vacation“
Whereas tech is a great tool to assist you on vacation (finding places to go, directions, making reservations, etc.), many people let the social media part of tech take over their trip. I once saw a young lady spend so much time trying to create selfies at the Grand Canyon, I wondered of she even noticed the natural wonder in front of her. (And hoped she didn’t fall off the edge.)
Other people cannot fathom going a week without checking email, social media accounts, the news – or most horribly – work-related accounts and apps.
It might be hard to believe, but the world will survive without knowing where you are for a little while. It’s one thing to check in with friends and family occasionally, but for the most part, just go off the grid and remember what vacations are all about.
Leaving that world behind.
Ashlyn Pernice writes:
“Imagine leaving everything —phones, car, home — and traveling across the country on foot. Imagine truly living a simple life, not caught up with friend drama on Facebook or politics on Twitter, not worrying about the future, nor reminiscing about the past. Imagine being able to truly live in the moment and ignore the responsibilities of everyday life, take in all the beauty of new places and new environments, and meet new people without the distractions of technology.
“But how could you travel without technology in the 21st century? This is what truly bothered me. I knew I wanted to travel without a car, but how would I navigate new areas in this day and age without Google Maps at my fingertips?
“I decided that if people hundreds of years before me could find their way around without smartphones, then I could, too. It was just a matter of using actual maps, asking locals, etc. I threw my beloved iPhone into a lake.”
You don’t have to necessarily throw your phone out. However, before you go, deactivate all social media and messaging apps. Buy a map. Use GPS as little as possible. Take spontaneous photos, not staged ones. Immerse yourself in the moment, and wait until you get back to share your experiences.
Maybe by leaving your daily world for awhile, you’ll find the path you should have been taking all along.
“Money, of course, is still needed to survive, but time is what you need to live. So, save what little money you possess to meet basic survival requirements, but spend your time lavishly in order to create the life values that make the fire worth the candle. ” – Rolf Potts
Darrick Dean 