The literary lineup this week includes many ways to just plain better yourself, from working on self-empowerment and emotional healing to showing compassion for other populations both here and abroad to discovering past lives on other planets. Yes, it gets that far-flung: Here are five refreshing ways to jump into a deep pool of ideas:
Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo, Stop Biting the Tail You’re Chasing
Tuesday, August 14, 7:30 p.m.
Boulder Book Store
1107 Pearl Street, Boulder
$5 (includes voucher for book)
Are emotions our friends or our enemies? Is is possible to free ourselves from emotional conflict? The Buddhist practice of lojong is a way of letting go of attachment to both the positive and negative…and it can lead to profound insight and compassion. Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo will be at the Boulder Book Store to read from and sign their new book, Stop Biting the Tail You’re Chasing: Using Buddhist Mind Training to Free Yourself from Painful Emotional Patterns. Show up, listen up and let go.
Dr. Linda Backman, Souls on Earth
Wednesday, August 15, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Free
Regression therapist Dr. Linda Backman shares her fascinating work with interplanetary souls — what she calls IPs, those whose previous lives were experienced on other planets in the universe — in her book Souls on Earth: Exploring Interplanetary Past Lives. Whether you’re a believer or just someone with an open mind to new ideas, this reading and signing at the Tattered Cover Colfax promises to be an engaging and engrossing evening of cosmic consciousness.
Michael Arceneaux, I Can’t Date Jesus
Wednesday, August 15, 7:30 p.m.
Dairy Arts Center
2590 Walnut Street, Boulder
$10
Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center kicks off a new series called “Creatively Speaking” with author Michael Arceneaux, the self-proclaimed “black David Sedaris,” who'll read and sign his new book, I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé. What’s it like to grow up black, Christian and gay in today’s America? Arceneaux provides one highly entertaining perspective. Tickets are $10 at the Dairy Arts Center website.
Pam Grout, E-Squared
Thursday, August 16, 5:30 p.m.
Halcyon Hotel
245 Columbine Street
$85
Best-selling author Pam Grout talks about her book E-Squared at an inspirational event hosted by Mom’s Night Out Productions at the Halcyon hotel as a way for women to connect, network and be inspired. Grout argues that reality is up for grabs and that by changing the focus of your thoughts, you can create a life of joy and ease; she’ll be signing books for participants following her talk, which will be available courtesy of the Tattered Cover. Tickets are $85, but, hey: They include wine and cheese.
Unseen Festival Sneak Preview
Friday, August 17, 7:30 p.m.
Counterpath
7935 East 14th Avenue
Free
Counterpath, the Denver-based publisher, exhibition space, bookstore and more, offers up a sneak preview of what promises to be an exciting thirty days of experimental film, writing and dance starting in September. Filmmaker Jean-Jacques Martinod will be on hand for this sneak preview, which includes readings and performances by Andy Martrich, J. Gordon Faylor and Scott Adams. The event is free, and full-access passes to the Unseen Festival (which runs from September 1 through September 30) will be on sale for just $50, a whopping 50 percent discount. This isn’t just something cool to do Friday night; it’s something cool to do for the entire upcoming month.
Know of an event that belongs here? Send info to [email protected].