Inward Bound: Exploring the Geography of Your Emotions

by Sam Keen

The author of the New York Times bestseller Fire in the Belly guides us on an enlightening journey across the emotional landscape of our own inner psyches. Using self-tests and practical advice, Inward Bound teaches us to master the art of emotional literacy—how to understand what our minds and bodies are really telling us through the ups and downs of our emotions.
 
Paying special attention to “negative” emotions such as fatigue, depression, grief, and especially boredom—the undiagnosed disease from which most “normal” people suffer—Sam Keen shows us how the low periods in our lives can actually be the impetus for the most profound and lasting change. While most people deny emotional lows in the hopes that they will go away; eat, drink, or tranquilize themselves; take mood elevators; or otherwise fill their time with empty activities, Keen instead teaches us how to re-vision negative emotions as positive way stations on the path to self-discovery.
 
In Inward Bound , Keen shows us how to recover the full spectrum of our feelings and points the reader on a journey to greater health, intimacy, vitality, and a renewed joy in life.

Genres: Self Help

244 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

Sam Keen was an American author, professor, and philosopher who is best known for his exploration of questions regarding love, life, wonder, religion, and being a male in contemporary society. He co-produced Faces of the Enemy, an award-winning PBS documentary; was the subject of a Bill Moyers' television special in the early 1990s; and for 20 years served as a contributing editor at Psychology Today magazine. He was also featured in the 2003 documentary Flight from Death.
Keen completed his undergraduate studies at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and later completed graduate degrees at Harvard University and Princeton University.
Keen was married to Patricia de Jong, who was a former senior minister of First Congregational Church of Berkeley, United Church of Christ, in Berkeley, California.

Reviews

[Josh]

Um.......read it!!! This man is one of my hero's! Many of a dark night in my life my only friend was Sam Keen!!! Thank you sir, and to all who read this are blessed, never alone and better for it! You are not alone!!! We are all on the inward path those of us who desire truth and light! In the ether/time/space our sprits are One! What we all desire is the truth that can be found in the god of your heart, the inward path. All religions need apply, then you can take it or leave it, you decide!

[Carol Collins]

Reread in 2018, skimmed, prior to disposing of book. I didn't find it compelling as I did 20 years ago.

[Jeff Hinsonofabeesting]

Sam Keen

[Autumn Johnson]

This book was about emotions and the ways that people use their emotions to fill different voids that people may have.