The day before Christmas Eve, Kim and I made a quick trip to Jackson, TN to pick up groceries and burn up some of the day - just the two of us, together. We ended up inside the only book store in town. It's a Books-a-million. It's not the best book store on earth, but when you're in a small town you take what you can get.
I found and bought "Spiritual Graffiti" by MC Yogi (Nicholas Giacomini). It's a memoir of recovery and discovery. He's not quite 30 years old yet, so I found myself dubious about the whole memoir thing.
I have a knee jerk response to people below a certain age writing memoir. I'm not sure what the cut off is, but I usually think of memoir as a look back at a long life. Churchill penned his memoirs at the youthful age of 75, after winning a world war and such. This is shortsighted on my part. I realize that in general. After picking up MC Yogi's book, I recognized my bias in the specific.
MC Yogi's book is a really nice bit of writing. He's honest and open about his personal struggles. He doesn't aggrandize his exploits. He paints a real picture of how yoga changed his life.
For that, I loved the book.
Let me be clear. I do not discount the wisdom of someone who happens to have only lived a short while in this life. There are - I believe - old souls among us and Mr. Giacomini is one of them. His honest appraisal of a life changed by yoga is full of hope and love and exuberance. I love him for that.
And for that, I loved the book.
If you get a chance, I can strongly suggest you pick up a copy.
There is - I find - a dearth of engaging and accessible writing about a life of yoga. Lots of times I find books by yogis to be just a bit too out there and woo woo for my taste. Often yoga books are full of bromides and platitudes and "yogic jargon," which can be, at best, off-putting to the uninitiated, and at worst, a total turn off to practitioners. And then there's the issue of self-publishing and non-editing that seems to happen in a lot in the yoga "space."
(You're reading a blog. It's not edited. It's basically a personal journal in digital format. On occasion, my actual editor will parse through the posts and correct for grammar and spelling and - sometimes - style. But this blog is not a published work, in the traditional sense. I'm offering it here for free and I make no claim to authority.)
The thing that impresses me most about Mr. Giacomini is this: He tells his story.
He does it with an open heart and he does it with style. I am filled with gratitude for his ability and willingness to add to the literature of yoga in an accessible and professional manner. He obviously landed a credible publisher and editor, so the book is not only beautiful to hold (a thing one should always look for in a book), but it's also a good read (another thing one should look for - demand - in a book).
If you're on the prowl for books to populate your yoga library, go buy this one. You can buy it here. Or you can go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy. Just go buy it. Now.