Review of In It Together

[Kathy-Smith]

[Following is a volunteer review of "In It Together" by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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In It Together by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes encourages readers to reflect on their existence and find inner peace. It is not excessively long, but it does take a while to read because there is a lot to pause and absorb. I found myself rereading paragraphs to digest them fully. I actually read the book a year ago and reread the whole book for a second time before writing this review.

I enjoyed the structure of the book and the lack of errors. Impactful sentences are left to stand alone as their own paragraphs, giving the reader space to understand them. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some paragraphs were lengthier and wordier than they needed to be, which muddled the message initially.

One concept that stood out to me (both times) is the relationship you have with your other selves in time, especially in the future. This has helped me reframe my attitude towards completing tasks I do not want to do. For example, I might be tired and want to ignore the dirty dishes in the sink, but I clean them anyway because I know the “future me” in the morning will be happy to have clean dishes. Instead of going right to bed, I clean them as a gift to that other self.

There are eleven suggestions for finding your inner peace. I have been focusing on implementing two of them in my life so far. Suggestion 2 is to “Let go of trying. Accept the unchangeable” (p158). It is freeing to look at an event, and instead of feeling disappointed that I “tried and failed,” I feel encouraged that I “did my best, even if it didn’t work out the way I hoped.” It also helps me hold myself accountable when I stop thinking, “I should try to do the dishes before bed” while playing on my phone, and instead put the phone down and go do the dishes.

Suggestion 4 is “Let go of moralizing or similarly judgmental language” (p164). I use this suggestion especially when thinking about the actions of “past me.” If I wake up in the morning to a sink full of dirty dishes, I do not think, “Ugh, ‘yesterday me’ should have done those.” Instead, I accept that the “yesterday me” did not do the dishes, and I could either waste time feeling discontent or move on and clean them up for the “future me.”

There are ideas I have not yet been able to embody, mainly regarding seeing spatial others as myself. Maybe I will after a third read (after I do the dishes). I rate the book 5 out of 5 stars for the content and the flawless editing.

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In It Together
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