The Five Invitations
Frank Ostaseski
“Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully” – a non-fiction offering from a renowned teacher of compassionate care-giving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project. This novel gives the Five Invitations to guide you in the right direction in your life so that you can die with your life better fulfilled.
Although I might flippantly reply to a question of “What is the meaning of life?” with “There isn’t one.” this novel provides a better answer, or at least contemplation of the answer. People often have regrets about what they could have / should have done differently. There are the typical lists of ‘The Top 5 Things People Regret’, but this novel actually offers readers a gentle guide to how to go about improving things now.
I read this novel such a very long time ago that I barely remember it. I dipped into it to review it now which was very relevant as my fiance’s (I got engaged!!!) grandfather died. This is a novel I would dip into more than once, as an inspiration for when things aren’t going so well in life (like right now!!!). Reevaluating your life is something powerful and painful and sometimes necessary.
A very respectable piece of non-fiction that offers lots of insights and comfort into Death, and how thinking about the inevitability of Death can help us live the life we actually want.
Pan Macmillan | 28th March 2017 | AU$29.99 | paperback
