Do Not Go Quietly
Do Not Go Quietly (A Guide to Living Consciously and Aging Wisely for People Who Weren’t Born Yesterday), by George and Sedena Cappannelli, was given to me by Hay House in exchange for my honest opinion of it. 
The introduction reveals that over the next decades half our population will be age 50 and older, for the first time in history. This book targets the demographic revolution that is occurring and how we affect in an unprecedented manner the political, social, economic, technological, environmental, and cultural influences.
Specific population groups included here are older GenXers (40 to 45), Boomers (46 to 64) and Elders (65 and beyond). These groups are celebrated for having the opportunity, time, talent, resources, and experience to mindfully facilitate this breakthrough that is happening. Well, hey–as I both fit into the target audience and am all for mindfully furthering a direction to a betterment of an outcome, I was all excited to read this book.
I have to say I liked the large number of quotes from a variety of very familiar and widely accepted icons in the field. The personal stories of specific people who are wonderful examples of what the authors are encouraging were very uplifting and interesting. I also appreciated what a great overall message the authors had to share of continuing to create a life of quality and accomplishment, especially as we all move into this next beautiful chapter of our lives. There is a lot of very good encouragement and support for who we are, where we’ve been, and where we can still go–on an individual as well as collective level.
There were a couple recurring areas of struggle that I had, and so I simply treated these as “to each their own.” Yet it did bog me down a bit in the overall product. Apparently more than a bit, otherwise I wouldn’t feel the need to mention them….
I can get past the recommendation that one of the most valuable and powerful models of living is a commune. I suppose I can also choose to move forward from the repeated recommendation to embrace recreational hallucinogenic drugs in order to expand my spirituality. My spirituality and I are not presently confined, but maybe that’s hard to imagine without pharmaceutical assistance. What the authors perhaps meant as encouraging instead felt divisive.
The most challenging aspect for me was that I felt a pervasive agenda throughout the book, when I was expecting spirituality instead.
Okay, I am fully aware that perhaps the authors and I are simply in separate demographic age groups. Or maybe we are in the same age group but have some areas of vast difference in how we experience and perceive life. All of that is well and good, and I’d like to focus on the parts of the book I appreciated more than the things that made me defensive. (Although the fact that the book had aspects that made me feel defensive is significant…you decide!) Here they are, in a nutshell:
Support for continued contribution, accomplishment, development, and personal growth. Great quotes from recognizable spiritual leaders. Uplifting life-story examples. Ultimately, we readers bring our own selves to the piece–if you are remotely interested in this book I would certainly recommend giving it your time and energy.
gina drellack 