absolutely life-changing books.

Hello! Welcome! Today is a very exciting video because I am finally going to be showing you 5... 5... of my all time favourite books. Books that helped me on my journey to discovering myself. Books that helped me to... I guess, realise the truth, realise who I am, realise how I see myself in this world and realise what this world is. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that at least once a day, at least one person asks me for book recommendations and I thought that finally it's the perfect time to film a video and tell you about 5 of my all time favourite books. Let's start with a book that I feel like is the most important out of all 5 of them. A book that made me cry several times. Even thinking about the book literally makes me feel emotional. It's crazy. It's crazy what books can do. And that is Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. If you read this book, I hope it made you feel the way it made me feel. We can both bond over it because, yeah, it's insane. I found this book at a second hand shop which is where I, honestly, all of the books I am about to show you except for one have been bought at a second hand shop. Because, let's be honest, who can afford $35 for a book? So, this one was actually $33 but I bought it for, I think, $3. And, I mean, to be honest, this is worth like $100. But I didn't know that at the time. This book has been through a lot. Let's just start with that. First of all, I pressed flowers in it and it has gold paint and it's honestly falling apart because one time I went to these cliffs, right? Next to the beach. And I was reading the book there because I used to go there all the time in good weather. No one else goes there. It's just me. Just sitting on these cliffs next to the beach. Anyway, so I left the book there overnight. I left my book there. I just forgot. So I just went home. No idea how. I came back the next morning. It was still there but it was all ruined from the rain. It's still readable. That's all that matters, really, because I will reread it. Now, let's talk about the actual important part about this. What the book is actually about. To explain, I feel like no matter how I explain this book, you should just read it and you will understand because I feel like my explanation will not do it any justice. But to explain it in a couple of words, it's about a guy who's looking for a teacher, who's like a student who is seeking enlightenment and he's looking for a spiritual teacher. And he finds an ad in a newspaper about a teacher seeking a student. Turns out it's a gorilla. And this gorilla explains the world and what is happening in the world right now through an animal's perspective. And it's talking about balance and harmony and the way of life and how humans' perception of Earth and balanced life on Earth is so warped. It's so wrong. That's all I'm going to say about this book because honestly, if someone asks me for a book recommendation, this is the first book I think of. So, Ishmael. If you can't find it at a second-hand store like I did, which was pretty freaking lucky, honestly, it's worth 30 bucks. Buy it. Just buy it. So, that's that. Let's go on to our second book, which is The Alchemist. And you probably heard about this book before because it is quite popular. And it's kind of like... It's written like a kid's story, which actually makes it really fun and really easy to read. And it's quite small. I read the whole thing in like three days. Three days or four days. It's pretty good. It has a very, very meaningful lesson, which I love. I love books with lessons because when you finish reading it, you're just like, yeah, this was time well spent because I learned something. Basically, this is about... Let's see. About a boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried near the pyramids. Along the way, he meets a gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles in his path. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into discovery of the treasure found within. Basically, a journey of self-discovery. And I love it. Next book is another one that I got from a second-hand shop that Alchemist actually bought in... Where did I buy it? I think I bought it in Hawaii. Would have been like Hawaii, yeah. And this is The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruz, who I believe wrote The Four Agreements, which is a very popular book. I hear about it all the time, but I never actually read it. Yes, so he wrote The Four Agreements and The Fifth Agreement and a few other books. I love this one. I love this one so much. So I got it at a second-hand shop right before my New Zealand trip. And I was reading this in New Zealand on my little road trip. And it just made the whole trip so magical. So magical. It's talking about love. Not just love between two people. It's talking about the interconnection between you and the universe and love within. It's beautiful. Actually, actually wrote a couple notes and highlighted a couple things, which I will read out to you now so you get the feel of the book. Let's see. Okay. This one is really good. You start to become aware when you see what you are not, when your mind starts to realize that it is not the body. Your mind says, then what am I? Am I the hand? If I cut off my hand, I am still me. Then I am not the hand. You take away what is not you until in the end, the only thing that remains is what you really are. It's a long process of the mind finding its own identity. In the process, you let go of the personal story what makes you feel safe until you finally understand what you really are. You find out that you are not what you believe you are because you never chose your beliefs. These beliefs were there before you were born. You find out that you are also not the body because you start to function without your body. You start to notice that you are not the dream, that you are not the mind. If you go deeper, you start noticing that you are not the soul either. Then what you find is so incredible. You find out what you are is a force. A force that makes it possible for your body to live. A force that makes it possible for your whole mind to dream. Wow! I just got really emotional because I always talk about this life force. I just realized that this is the book that made me think of all of that. Without you, without this force, your body would collapse on the floor. Without you, your whole dream just dissolves into nothing. What you really are is that force that is life. If you look into the eyes of someone near you, you will see the self-awareness, the manifestation of life shining in his eyes. Life is not the body. It is not the mind. It is not the soul. It is a force. Through this force, a newborn baby becomes a child, a teenager, an adult. It reproduces and grows old. When life leaves the body, the body decomposes and turns to dust. You are life passing through your body, passing through your mind, passing through your soul. Once you find that out, not with the logic, not with the intellect, but because you can feel that life, you find out that you are the force that makes the flowers open and close, that makes the hummingbird fly from flower to flower. You find out that you are in every tree, you are in every animal, vegetable and rock. You are that force that moves the wind and breathes through your body. The whole universe is a living being that is moved by that force. And that is what you are. You are life. I remember, I remember the first time I read this and I felt it. And it changed my whole world around and changed my whole understanding and perspective on what I am. Maybe that's why my New Zealand trip is so dear to me because that's when I realised some things that I didn't know before. So, I think I might have highlighted a couple more things. Oh, what's this one? Okay, so, ****. This is another little paragraph that gave me goosebumps. When you know that the power that is life is inside you, you accept your own divinity and yet you are humble because you see the same divinity in everyone else. You see how easy it is to understand God because everything is a manifestation of God. The body is going to die. The mind is going to dissolve also. But not you. You are immortal. You exist for billions of years in different manifestations because you are life and life cannot die. You are in the trees, the butterflies, the fish, the air, the moon, the sun. Wherever you go, you are there waiting for yourself. That last sentence just sent shivers down my spine and it did the exact same thing when I read it the first time. My whole, like, oh, I cannot explain how much this book affected my views in the world. Do you remember my video Flow of Life? Flow of Life. Something I felt when I was in New Zealand. I'll just link the video down below in the description. My thoughts and my feelings was, like, so deeply influenced by this book. Um, so, I hope this made you want to read it. It's amazing as you can tell. On to the next book we go! A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. Tolle? Eckhart Tolle. Um, he also wrote The Power of Now, which is a very popular book which I actually found at an op shop and I was halfway through the book and I was reading it in America and then our van got broken into and I had, like, my backpack stolen and, yeah, the book was stolen too, so I hope that you freaking enjoyed it. It was a good book. Um, so, um, I actually bought this one at a store. I actually bought this one at a store in Milos. No, not in Milos. In Santorini in Greece. As you can see, I have this little bookmark. Atlantis Books. Santorini, Greece. It was such a cool bookshop. Um, so if any of you ever go, um, it's very easy to spot. It's just on the main street and you can, yeah, you can tell it's a bookshop. It's such a cool bookshop. And, um, the bookshop owner was so helpful. So helpful. I swear he read, like, every single book in that shop. And I couldn't help myself but get this book. As you can see, I actually haven't finished reading it yet. I'm halfway through. Because for some reason, even though the book is really good, for some reason I'm finding it slightly difficult to read. Because obviously, um, obviously books with, like, storylines are more easy to read. Like Ishmael or The Alchemist. And this one was just, like, more philosophical. And it was written so beautifully that it just flowed. This one is, like, more psychological, I guess. But it also talks about, not psychological, sorry, but, like, more not technical. I don't know how to say it, but it's just not as, like, creatively written. It has, like, some terminology and smart words. But I still recommend this book because it has a lot of helpful and interesting information. Like, after every single paragraph I just have to stop and think. I'm going to check if I highlighted anything. Oh, yes! Found something. Oh, yeah. What a liberation to realize that the voice in my head is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that. The awareness that is prior to thought. The space in which the thought or the emotion or sense perception happens. Think about that. You are the space in which a thought or emotion happens. Blows my mind. Definitely a good book. Definitely recommend, even though I would not recommend it as much as these three. I came to the conclusion they're my three most favorites. I would like to end this video with a novel. It's a classic. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read this book probably like four years ago. Bought it at a second hand shop again for three bucks. Very popular book. The book is so much better than the movie. So if you didn't like the movie you might like this. It's a book about self discovery, finding a true self. Here it says, Elizabeth is in her thirties, settled into a large house with a husband who wants to start a family, but she doesn't want any of it. A bitter divorce and a rebound fling later, Elizabeth emerges battered yet determined to find what she's been missing. So begins her quest. In Rome, she indulges herself and gains nearly two stone. In India, she finds enlightenment through scrubbing temple floors. Finally, in Bali, a toothless medicine man reveals a new path to peace, leaving her ready to love again. The fact that it is a true story, it's Elizabeth Gilbert's story, is so cool. I do want to read her other books. I heard Big Magic by her is really good. And also if any of you are interested, her TED Talks. TED Talks. So good. Love them. I really hope you enjoy this video. And I really really hope you check out some of these books. Especially the three I talked about in the beginning. I'm just going to quickly go through them again. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. The Alchemist by Paula Coelho. The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruz. New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. And Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I feel like those five books are like the perfect combination of books to start your journey. I'm definitely planning on reading more books. I heard Osho is really good. I do want to reuse the Four Agreements and the Fifth Agreement. I heard Untethered Soul is an amazing book. My friend Emily just read it and she was in love with it. What else? I have a few books that I would like to read but out of the ones that I have ever read those five were just the best. Especially Ishmael. I would like to end this video by showing you... I mean it's kind of book related but not really. It's like a small book which I made. It's not really a book but it's a little lunar phases calendar for 2018. I worked so hard on the designs and I'm really happy with the outcome. So since 2018 is just around the corner if you're interested, grab one. I will be so grateful. It has an illustration for each month all hand drawn of course. Lunar phases with full moon dates. In February there is no full moons so it's not the best example but in March there are two full moons. So full moon, full moon and different monthly goals for each month which is why the calendar is called year of growth because every single goal for each month is like pushing you to grow and open your mind. So for example in February here it says we are always manifesting. Each thought we have creates an energy flow within and around our physical beings. This energy attracts its likeness. As 2018 begins, let's spend this month directing this energy to attract things, experiences and people you desire to be in your life. Take time to visualize and connect with the feeling of achieving your dreams. There are an infinite number of ways your desires can manifest in your life so don't think about how it will happen. Follow your intuition and look out for signs. In time the universe catches up with your energy and your desires come into form. Of course, written by me and illustrated by me and hand bound by me. By this little hemp cord. Link to my Etsy is in the description as well as a link to my flow of life video from New Zealand. I really hope you enjoy this video and I will see you in my next one. Bye!