 | By: Leo Buscaglia Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Henry Holt & Company Inc ISBN: 0030615526 ISBN-13: 9780030615528 Released: 21 Jun 2007 RRP: Average Rating:  |
In May 1984, I was young, strong, irrational & did not fully grasp the value of love & or human relations but I thought I knew about living & learning. I received the book just three months before our daughter was born & realised the important of 'love' as a 'behaviour modifier'. Ever since, I have learnt many other things from this book as well from other sources. Dr Buscaglia writes about love & the importance of giving as well as receiving this unexplainable desire from the time of our birth to death. Now I know that life is nothing but a journey of seeking, giving & rejection of love.
A few months ago our daughter was very down, apparently due to the pains of growing up. Perhaps I would have been a major party in that process. May be she had peer pressure which she didn't want to communicate with me. Perhaps she thought that I was not listening to her needs (and I still do that mistake)!. When she was very down, I approached & 'tactfully demanded' her (like many parents do) to read the book. I even highlighted the section that she should read. A few days later she returned the book & said: "Dad, this book has a lot of what you always talk about!". She smiled & thanked me. It was a very precious moment in my life. Then only I realised how much I have unconsciously acquired Dr Buscaglia's wisdom over the years despite still making mistakes as an adult as well as a parent.
Now, getting closer to my mid-life, after having travelled round the world, up-rooted myself & my family from our country of origin, receiving & perhaps not receiving enough love as a behaviour modifier, I still read the book because I am still growing up.
I am at a point in my life where love & affection as Dr Buscaglia defined in this book are much needed for my further growth & development. Now I am learning the need to care, respect & love everyone I live & work with, meet, talk or write sometimes even seeing them at alll! Dr Buscaglia cites a good example in this book where he had not cared enough for a student who he thought was learning well in one of his undergraduate classes. He assumed that he was communicating well with this student because she sat in front of him, smiled when he emphasised something & took down notes carefully. He writes: "Then one day she stopped coming... & I kept looking for her... Finallly, I checked with the Dean...and she said, 'Haven't you heard?'" Dr Buscaglia learnt that the student had killed herself by jumping off a cliff. He writes: "It bothers me still & I thought to myself--what are we doing stuffing facts at people & forgetting that they are people, that they are human beings?"
This book is not about stuffing facts or giving us just citations from psychology or sociology books. He shares the wisdom he has gathered from several sources on 'Living, Loving & Learning'. This book is a guide to help us to be good human beings. For those who only want to read new world stuff may think that this book is a bit of an old fashion or just a basic one. Yes, it is a basic guide for us to be good human beings.
That's why I am still reading this book 16 years after receiving it from my mentor. That's why I am still sharing the knowledge I gained from it with those who are closer to my heart wherever they live. Because I had the gift of receiving books, I always returned the same to those I love very much. Recently, I gave a gift of books to a person that I have never met because of that person's loving qualities & wisdom shared with me despite my colour, creed, race & age! Now I regret that I could not include this book in my gift pack.
For me this book is still a one sure way of 'Living, Loving & Learning'. Just read it!
Sunil Govinnage
June 2000
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