Sara Gruen author of Water for Elephants and Ape House has learned one of the most valuable lessons in the art of changing the consciousness or awareness of the masses. She disguises education in drama. In fact she doesn’t even let you know that there is any education going on at all. She hides her message inside a story, diverts the reader, and when they are least expecting it sticks it to em hard and deep. The victim will walk away holding his or her brain in one hand and heart in the other. Boom there it is, a changed life.

Let that I should digress a moment. I ended my high school career in 1970 which means I grew up under the influence of the sixties. One of the terms that was repeated often back then, and usually in reference to recreational drug use, was Mind Expanding. Another way of saying the same thing was Consciousness Raising. I believe that  mind and consciousness can be expanded and raised through minimal drug taking. I should shout out a Disclaimer here. The term minimal was used because the overuse of drugs consistently turns the user into a stump. End of digression.

An intense, emotional experience changes consciousness or awareness, or how and what you think about what you think about. This is an historically known tidbit, used since the beginning of time by leaders, speakers, politicians, and basket ball coaches. Two contemporary non pharmaceutically enhanced (usually) mind and consciousness expanders would be movies and books. Recorded music is an important addition to this topic but at this time let’s not. The writing of books allow readers to control the rate and depth of the assimilation of the message. You can pause and sort is out as you go. Movies are like drug experiences and carnival rides in that they can be intensely emotional and you you must ride it out to the end. I know you are thinking that I am still digressing and that we are lost talking about drugs and carnival rides and that I am a stump and what ever happened to Sara Gruen! OK, your right on all counts so I’ll tie it up now.

All the wrong things like war, poverty, and hunger seem to be too much a part of our collective awareness. The increasing population of planet earth needs a re-think in a hurry to avoid the doom and gloom scenario. One of the key areas that needs change in a hurry is man’s relationship to animals. The animal thing won’t be discussed by me any further here because our author, Ms Gruen, seems to have a black belt in this subject with her books and did I mention an up coming movie? Prepare to have your mind expanded, your consciousness raised and your awareness increased by reading Ape House and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

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