Raederle

There are very few books so good that I would read them three times. Ishmael is one of those books. I read it the first time in my early twenties, again a few years later, and again at the age of thirty-one. Each time it was like a new revelation – so packed with important, perspective-shifting concepts that it shook my world. And brought tears to my eyes. On the first read through I kept expecting there to be an outline or summary of the “Taker Mythology” all in one place, but the concepts are spread all over the book. On my third reading I took notes. Now I shall outline the Taker Story and the alternative – the Leaver Story. We'll begin (as the book does) with the story of the Takers. The Taker Mythology The Creation Myth (according to Taker Culture) Billions of years ago there was a big bang and the universe came into being. Millions of years ago the Earth developed life in its oceans, some of which evolved onto land. The world filled up with fish, insects, and

I'm genetically a HSP (highly sensitive person). I'm also on the autism spectrum. To add to this mix, I was exposed to many harsh chemicals in the aftermath of a house-fire in my teens, and during this time period I was so depressed that I further damaged my body with excess aspirin usage, smoking pot, and drinking alcohol. Besides all this, I ate a fairly standard American diet (SAD), and I was putting on weight besides developing a stomach ulcer (or several). At seventeen I began to turn the mess around by changing my diet. By twenty I had a whole new lifestyle, a completely new life, and a much healthier body. There was just one problem. 2009, Raederle at the age of 20 Over the course of my early twenties I became increasingly sensitive to chemical odors. In my late teens I had noticed that I got headaches from second-hand cigarette smoke, which seemed pretty common. By the age of twenty-four I was experiencing severe headaches from the fumes created by frying food