Categories: Book Reviews

Lori Deschene, Tiny Buddha

Lori Deschene, Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Life’s Hard Questions

How to Write a Book from Twitter

Lori Deschene is a master of Twitter engagement and this book is the proof of that.

At the time her book was published, @tinybuddha had over 200,000 followers – impressive. And, today she has 449,000 followers. Very impressive!

One of her most powerful strategies for doing this was to ask lots of questions. And, this book was written based on this approach.

Lori’s plan was to write a collaborative book and her first step was to ask her Twitter audience for input. She asked: ‘What are the important questions?’ and then ‘What are the important answers?’ And, this book is based on those top ten questions and it includes hundreds of real Twitter responses.

The Twitter replies work beautifully in this book. They’re naturally short and tweet – 140 characters is the perfect self-editing device.

[Tweet “Big questions, wise answers! #greatread @tinybuddha by @lori_deschene”]

About Lori Deschene

Asking great questions and engaging your audience is only part of the story. Lori Deschene also writes a beautiful book.

Lori is humble, has a wonderful sense of humour and is wise and genuine. This is a compelling and rare combination today!

She shares her own journey and mostly the potholes she’s fallen into. And, it’s been a tough road after being bullied at school. I admire her successful transformation from those challenging times. Since then she has written her way to success through her blog and other projects.

Lori is really clear, she doesn’t have all the answers and she is willing to discuss, engage and share her thoughts.

Soothe Yourself

I found this book soothing to read. For me, there is something calming about reading spiritual books, particularly the Buddhist framework. I almost instantly read at a slower pace. It’s like there is a spell of wisdom, compassion and ease cast over me.

And, whilst I read at a slower pace, I still devoured Tiny Buddha in a matter of days merely on my tram trips. Plus, it’s the sort of book that you could dip your toes into and read and re-read at your pleasure.

Lori Deschene also adds lots of varied references from her personal stories through to the latest psychology research to bolster the depth and breadth of the story.

The Questions

Some of the questions asked in the book include:

Why is there suffering in the world?
What’s the meaning of life?
Can people change, and how?
Does everything happen for a reason?
What does it take to be happy?
Why are relationships hard?
Do you need money to be happy?
How can you make each day count?
What can we control in life?

Yep, I told you they are the big ones! And, whilst the questions may be big, the answers and discussion is friendly and easy to apply to your life. Best of all, it easily goes beyond the usual pop-psyche solutions.

My particular favorite was the activity for alternate nostril breathing – breathe in left 4 counts, hold 4 counts, breath out other nostril 4 count. Complete 4-8 sets. Test this little physiological trick out for yourself; the benefits might just surprise you.

Read this because…

Read this because you’re curious about life, love the big questions or you need some nurturing. The Tiny Buddha book has a clean layout with action steps and twitter replies and it’s presented in a simple easy to read format.