It's a brave individual who decides to structure their book around the Seven Deadly Sins. A term you would have thought so weighed down with religious baggage, that using the word sin would be off-putting enough. Admittedly Elizabeth Oldfield, utilises them all very lightly and with a good deal of playfulness and humour. And it is the warmth of her approach, and her portrayal of herself that carries you through. This is not someone who has ever been good at hiding her faults.
What remains very striking about Fully Alive - Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times, is her frankness and unwavering desire to speak honestly about her perceived failings, as much as her aspirations. Because these are all very human tendencies to dream and then to 'fuck things up'. She has ideas a plenty to impart, but remains concerned she could sound preachy, self satisfied or righteous or forget she has been more fortunate than some or exercising a privilege. All the while aware that the climate crisis is all too real, the future is not looking good, for her own kids to be brought up into it. And she is more than a bit scared about what will follow.
For this is a book that can be a warning, a memoire, a spiritual journal, as well as an in depth exploration of the current deteriorating state of our culture. For those of you who are regular listeners of The Sacred, her podcast, much of the material expands upon themes that cropped up there. The recent series took Fully Alive as its starting point, and opened up by asking that weeks guest - what made them feel fully alive?
In Oldfield's case its in a sense of connection, expanded out into a desire for community, encompassing the widest range of personalities and opinions. When she finds connection she feels fully alive. And her single minded devotion to forging connections with people who are NLM ( not like me) is both admirable and brave. For the worst thing in our increasingly polarised world is the bubbles we all form around us of PLM (people like me). So we rarely encounter people NLM and when we do we run a mile, or make instant prejudicial judgements.
Oldfield's dedication to fight back against her own tendency to distance and categorise, by cultivating interest and curiosity about what it is makes her guests tick. This curiosity fills the pages of this book, mostly questioning herself and her motives.
So the chapter subtitles give you a flavour for what the contents of this book are like:-
Wrath - From Polarisation to Peacemaking,
Avarice - From Stuffocation to Gratitude and Generosity
Acedia - From Distraction to Attention
Envy- From Status Anxiety to Belovedness
Gluttony - From Numbing to Ecstasy
Lust- From Objectification to Sexual Humanism
Pride -From Individualism to Community
Each provoking thought and ways towards rather than away from the challenges we all face
She concludes the book with a chapter on The G Bomb, about God and what difference living as if there is a God could do. But she knows this is also challenging, she's not called it The G Bomb for nothing. Recognising for some this could blow them right out of the water. And, I would say the nuance in her appraisal and honest exploration of the questions and issues, does keep you reading. You never feel like she is preaching at you, or trying to convert you, but uses her own rather mixed and often contradictory responses as a way to tease out issues and take us all a little step deeper.
This is not an earth shattering, mind changing book, but it does a brilliant job of churning up the mud in the bottom of a very stagnant pond. After all, we are in one hell of a murky mess.
CARROT REVIEW - 6/8
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