Our Many Selves

by Elizabeth O'Connor

"A series of practical exercises to help the reader understand his or her own life and evolve a program of continuing personal growth."

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published June 1, 1971

About the author

Elizabeth O'Connor worked for the ecumenical Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C. since 1953 and directed its residence and support group for elderly low-income persons.

Miss O'Connor wrote a number of books about church renewal and community service. The first was "Call to Commitment," describing the founding and development of Church of the Savior, which works toward racial integration through small groups.

Miss O'Connor began and facilitated the Compassion Group counseling program at the church, where she was also a lay leader, a teacher and a workshop leader.

She was founder in 1983 of Sarah's Circle, a program for the elderly in Adams-Morgan. The residential facility has 34 apartments and a community center serving 200 people. Miss O'Connor originated the idea and raised money for the facilities. Miss O'Connor was born in New Jersey and raised in the Bronx, N.Y. She attended New York University and the New School for Social Research. She did publicity work for the company that produced "America's Town Meeting of the Air" for radio and worked for the American Bankers Association before moving to Washington in 1949.

Miss O'Connor, who was a public speaker and leader of retreats, was given an honorary doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary.

Reviews

[Eli]

Not giving stars for this one because it's just so far outside my wheelhouse.

See, my therapist is also an ordained Christian minister, which means that the books she loans me are often steeped in Christian theology and perspective. Usually I can "translate" that thinking for my own, non-Christian perspective, but with this book, it's so enmeshed in the fabric of the book that it simply couldn't be separated out, and there wasn't much in it for me. That's not a flaw in me or the book; I'm simply not its target audience, nor it my preferred kind of reading.

[Julie Corbett]

After reading only the preface, the book dated itself. I found the language difficult to read and stick with because it read really choppy to me.
While I think there are probably some good points in the book, it was too thick in psychology and theology to actually enjoy. It felt like I was reading a college textbook.
This may be the perfect book for someone else, but it's just not a good match for me.

[Brenda Chance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic...a trusted guide for a season of growth. Each cycle back through it reveals something I hadn’t seen before...something new I need to embrace or something old and tired that I need to release.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciated this book. It came out of a study group on psychological growth at O'Connor's Christian community, and consists of a series of studies on themes from discovering your multiple selves, your negative selves; from criticism to empathy, and creative suffering. It has much to reflect on for those who suffer depression or who regret their lives. Themes are explored with exercises for self-study, and excerpts from a host of writers whose works I can never hope to read in full - but some I might pursue. Who knew that I'd find Maurice Nicholl's Psychological Commentaries on Gurdjieff and Ouspensky so compelling? Of course, searching bookfinder.com, I only find first editions of Nicholl, which are decidely expensive. I also need to find out more about the Church of the Savior in DC - does it still exist? I would love to have a study group that took this as a text. Perhaps too self-focused for my current church, who prefer to look outward to the needs of the world - and rightly so. I recommend this for the occasional self-examination, though.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A closer examination on Elizabeth O'Connor's theory of "many selves" and exercises to move from self-focus to self-discovery to self-sacrifice. This book was based off of some of the exercises that they used at her church, and most of the content to aid the exercises are quotes from a wide range of sources. A lot of the material is dated now, but may of the sources are classic, so I enjoyed it.