Pillow Talking’s Review of LETTING GO by B.L. Hallison
Someday Productions LLC and Pillow Talking are pleased to present the following review of LETTING GO — Surrender, Release Attachments and Accept the Present by B.L. Hallison
LETTING GO — Surrender, Release Attachments and Accept the Present by B.L. Hallison
Review by Wayne J. Keeley
Q. What did the Buddhist tell the door-to-door salesperson who came to his home selling vacuum cleaners?
A. Too many attachments!
Let me state right up front that I am a hoarder. Well, I used to be one. Not someone who was over the top, although my father used to refer to my room as Collier’s Mansion. But I did like to collect things – especially cards. Baseball cards, TV show cards, monster cards – you know, the ones with the dried up powdery stick of gum in the back of the pack that lasted for about two bites. I tried collecting Bazooka Joe comics, but they were too small. I did have a great vinyl collection of Elvis records. (And I’d do anything to have all my baseball cards back again – I’d be a rich man, but like most of childhood obsessions, they went the way of the trash. Thank you, Mom.)
As I’ve gotten older however, my penchant for collecting things has severely abated, if not altogether ceased. Sure, I still have my treasured Mont Blanc pen collection and a few other assorted items. But I’ve noticed that as I’ve matured, I’ve become more of a minimalist than anything else. Maybe it’s coming to terms with one’s own mortality and the ultimate realization that a double-breasted Brooks Brothers pinstripe suit which looked so good on me in the 80s is completely outdated – as are those pulled-up sleeves on my Miami Vice button downs.
Which finally brings me to the subject of my review of Letting Go by B.L. Hallison. To quote Ben Affleck’s character in the iconic Hahvahd bar scene from Good Will Hunting, “I found it a bit elementary.” It wasn’t that the information wasn’t useful or informative. But it was an overview and barely scratched the surface of some of the main topics in Buddhism like the actual techniques and/or exercises that one can use on a daily basis to “let go.” Similarly, there is a lot of discussion about mindfulness meditation and its benefits, but no real tools are offered as to how to implement mindfulness meditation on a regular basis or to integrate it into a daily routine.
To be completely fair, Letting Go is not meant as anything more than an overview; a launching pad, if you will, to more erudite tomes on the subject. And to that end, it succeeds handily. It serves as the perfect primer for a more intense exploration into the subject matter.
