Tipping Sacred Cows: The Uplifting Story of Spilt Milk and Finding Your Own Spiritual Path in a Hectic World by Betsy ChasseMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The word spirituality has a different definition for everyone. Some people find this in church, some people find it volunteering, while someone like me feels at my most spiritual listening to George Harrison's All Things Must Pass on a loop—whatever works for you, works for you. In Tipping Sacred Cows, Betsy Chasse (cocreator of the film What the Bleep Do We Know?!) takes a look at her own spirituality through her life experiences. And she doesn't prescribe a set of spiritual rules for the reader—Chasse instead gives every reader the tools needed to create their own reality and how that in itself is spiritual.
Because this book is a no-nonsense guide told through the author's experiences, I recommend reading the whole book to get the big picture, but for me, here are some of the books highlights:
Chapter 4: This chapter is about the Law of Attraction and this is one of the chapters I had wish I read before I had a full-on two week rendezvous with the so-called practice (my fault—this book has been in my to-read list for almost two years. I totally could have saved myself those two weeks). Chasse points out the realities of this practice and the pretty obvious point that it can't work if you try to use it to control other people. Everyone's doing their own thing in this life, so creating your own reality won't change the fact that they are seeking their own reality.
Chapter 12: We should all love ourselves and those around us. Yeah, most of us don't, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying. But what Chasse points out is that the gurus who want you to love yourself and other unconditionally are no being real. There are always conditions to love, and being authentic in your love is just fine too.
Chapter 13: Forgiveness. I'm a big proponent on not forgiving anyone who's done me wrong, and Chasse is probably the first person on this earth I've heard that has said that's okay. As she points out, we live in a society where anger is bad and forgiveness is good, even if that is giving someone the idea that what they've done wrong was okay. It's not. But also as the author points out, not forgiving someone only works if you are able to control and channel the anger that you are left with.
Overall, this book is part spiritual 101, part person essays that let readers know it's okay to be lost. It's okay to try some new spiritual thing too, as long as you aren't losing a part of yourself in the process. And although this book made me not want to read the word “cow” ever again (but the metaphor is good, so I'm not complaining...), it does make important points about life and how we all fit or try to fit in this life.
*Received a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads
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