Success 5k...

For those of you following my search for the meaning of success, following the progress on my new book, I'm happen to report that I've reached the 5,000 word mark. A pittance, I know. I expect a great deal more out of myself.

But keep in mind that this isn't just some romantic comedy I'm writing. I've been assembling a mountain of research and every bit takes me down some new direction. Outside of the many pages of information from the Internet(s), I've found that I'm going to need to read some of those "book" things you hear so much about. I've settled on three:

Essential Tibetan Buddhism by Robert Thurman. Religion is very important to our idea of success and eastern philosophy differs greatly from western. I plan to present some Biblical references but those are all fairly obvious and simple. Eastern thought is filled with a variety of pitfalls and this book should help shore up my minimal knowledge on that topic. I've already started reading this book and can feel the bruises on my brain.

Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. This one's the big boy, the real pain in the ass. As a philosophy major (and I plan to finish my degree one day, honest), I knew I'd be faced with this book sooner or later. I was kind of hoping it would be later. Aristotle had a lot to say on the subject of success and this book should help me feret out some of the complexities in that.

Maslow's book on Self-Actualization. Can you guess I haven't bought this one, yet? Well, he wrote a few and I'm having a hard time tracking one down cheap. I've already hit a few used book stores and I'm contemplating driving up to LA to continue my search. We'll see. The connection between Maslow's Heirachy of Needs, Kundalini Yoga, and success is palpable and only a small part of what I intent to bring to this book.

So, 5,000 words. The frightening part is that I have only - just now - mentioned success. The rest has been setting up the back story, packing up the car for the journey.

Now, it actually gets difficult.