Funny how much he thinks he knows… –
Jan. 27, 2019 – There are occasional irritations. Vocabulary is in places needlessly obscure (“prognathic”, anyone?) or misused (“inhere” is a repeat offender), and at times the poetry is overstretched beyond sense. Some of the content alienates. Brand writes: “You know when someone says, ‘Come and stay at our ashram in southern India’?” No, actually. And with an obliviousness that was highlighted in a recent interview in which his lack of familiarity with the more hands-on aspects of childcare became apparent, he says that “all my mentors have floated into my life, like celestial beings”. But unlike Brand, you may not be able to maintain two therapists, an acupuncturist and a personal relationship with an Indian guru. Also, is Jordan Peterson really “irrefutably persuasive”?
But these distractions are more than compensated for by many touching personal confessions and real, if not wholly original, insights. Among them is an acknowledgment that failure can elevate you, because it gives you a vantage point from which you can help others as a mentor, and because not getting what you want can inspire you to search for meaning.
