The Power Of Mess

We are taught to hate mess, whether it's an untidy bedroom or a chaotic divorce. But mess is important, because, like it or not, it is a big part of our lives and who we are. Things go wrong all the time and life rarely goes to plan. How do we stop that from being a recurring negative point in our lives, though? Life is messy, the process of cleansing and healing is hard, and the only way is through. But what if the process of 'sorting through' didn't have to feel as draining as it often does? What if there were a way of resolving life's mess that could set you upon a path of discovering deeper and truer versions of yourself? What if the mess that comes up along the way liberated you into living an integrated, wholesome, blossoming life? In The Power of Mess Samantha Lourie offers a way of working through the messy aspects of life that develops a sense of resilience and a quiet assurance that we will be okay. She encourages us to own the mess and see our lives as an epic journey where we pick up the pieces along the way and make something authentic out of them. The loss, hurt and mess are still there, but our perception of their place in our lives has changed. We've dropped the old maps and manuals behind and started paving our own path through the mess. We are empowered because of it.

The urge to tidiness seems to be rooted deep in the human psyche. Many of us feel threatened by anything that is vague, unplanned, scattered around or hard to describe. We find comfort in having a script to rely on, a system to follow, in being able to categorise and file away. We all benefit from tidy organisation - up to a point. A large library needs a reference system. Global trade needs the shipping container. Scientific collaboration needs measurement units. But the forces of tidiness have marched too far. Corporate middle managers and government bureaucrats have long tended to insist that everything must have a label, a number and a logical place in a logical system. Now that they are armed with computers and serial numbers, there is little to hold this tidy-mindedness in check. It's even spilling into our personal lives, as we corral our children into sanitised play areas or entrust our quest for love to the soulless algorithms of dating websites. Order is imposed when chaos would be more productive. Or if not chaos, then . . . messiness. The trouble with tidiness is that, in excess, it becomes rigid, fragile and sterile. In Messy, Tim Harford reveals how qualities we value more than ever - responsiveness, resilience and creativity - simply cannot be disentangled from the messy soil that produces them. This, then, is a book about the benefits of being messy: messy in our private lives; messy in the office, with piles of paper on the desk and unread spreadsheets; messy in the recording studio, the laboratory or in preparing for an important presentation; and messy in our approach to business, politics and economics, leaving things vague, diverse and uncomfortably made-up-on-the-spot. It's time to rediscover the benefits of a little mess.

Ever since Einstein's study of Brownian Motion, scientists have understood that a little disorder can actually make systems more effective. But most people still shun disorder-or suffer guilt over the mess they can't avoid. No longer! With a spectacular array of true stories and case studies of the hidden benefits of mess, A Perfect Mess overturns the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, organization, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. Drawing on examples from business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, retail, and even the meteoric career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, coauthors Abrahmson and Freedman demonstrate that moderately messy systems use resources more efficiently, yield better solutions, and are harder to break than neat ones.Applying this idea on scales both large (government, society) and small (desktops, garages), A Perfect Mess uncovers all the ways messiness can trump neatness, and will help you assess the right amount of disorder for any system. Whether it's your company's management plan or your hallway closet that bedevils you, this book will show you why to say yes to mess.

"Instincts are what keep us safe from fate. Ignoring them can change your life forever." Fame and fortune arrived overnight and after months on the road with her singing tour, all Estelle craves is peace. Tired and ready for paradise, she travels to Fiji to recuperate. Stubborn and surly, Galloway is avoided by most--which is exactly the way he likes it. However, he's done spending his life in regret and hopes to find redemption in the tropical wilderness. Together, they board the flight that changes their fate forever. Crash landing on a deserted island, they not only have to figure out how to survive with no skills and daily dangers--learning how to fish, find water, and build shelter--but also inherit two children who look to them to keep them alive. However, staying alive might be the least of Galloway and Estelle's problems. As days creep to months and rescue doesn't find them, their desire for each other ignites. They started as strangers. They grew to be friends. They fought the desire to be lovers. Lust can be the most beautiful thing. Love the most rewarding. But not on an island where life hangs by a thread and giving into temptation can kill you. Can they survive being forgotten or will love be their ultimate undoing? From New York Times Bestseller Pepper Winters comes a timeless love story answering the question of what happens when everything is stripped away. Standalone.

Hoping to be as beautiful as a movie star, Julie excitedly buys and applies various kinds of makeup, but the people around her do not react the way she expects. Grades K-3. 2001.

In this National Bestseller, Mary Katherine Backstrom shares heartbreaking and hilarious stories of how God uses each "mess" in our lives to bring us closer to Him. She shows us that it's okay to celebrate exactly where we are right now--holy, hot mess and all. A lot of people struggle with the concept of being holy. But the fact is, even the hottest of messes are being shaped--right now--into Jesus' likeness. In this book, Mary Katherine shares the sometimes-hidden evidence of God's work in her life and shows you that it's okay to embrace the hot messes. Mary Katherine will share both hilarious and vulnerable stories about faith, friendships, motherhood, marriage, and depression. She will cover the topics that plague our hearts every day with raw, honest truth and a side of laughter. Mary Katherine invites you into her story as a friend, encouraging you to embrace the hot messes in your life. Because we are all a work in progress, and as long as we are alive, we are under construction--and construction sites tend to be messy.

The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, war, political polarization, economic upheaval, and the dying back of nature together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. This revised, tenth anniversary edition of Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face these crises so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.

Your best friend is suddenly cool and distant. Your spouse can't stop complaining about your bad habits. Your son refuses to talk to you. What are you supposed to do? Plans A, B, and C might be to shut down, lash out, or get out. But consider Plan D: Recognize that God has the last word on those messy, conflict-ridden relationships. He can ...