Reviews

Book reviews coming soon.

Reader's Book Comments

Dear Ruth Ostrow,
I have read your recently published book, Sacred & Naked, with considerable interest. I derived, from your work, immense personal satisfaction. My summary: a splendid book – sensitive, revealing, pertinent to the present day, reminiscent of the effects of horrible wars, told with insight and with pleasant, penetrating humour.

If I were to comment on every aspect of your work that I found poignant and apposite this e-mail would become pages. I will mention representative instances stressing that there were are a hundred other instances I want to mention.

Your daughter quizzing about God, heaven and mortality and mentioning the stickiness of chewing gum was a splendid reflection on the mysteries of life and everyday vicissitudes.

The instance of the woman playing your father’s violin was extraordinary. I read that chapter over and over. Always there was a catch in my throat – I do not wonder why.

Your experience in the Indian temple was unique – there are many unexplained things if life. I have the three-volume work, Myths and Legends of Ancient Israel, (Angelo Rappoport). When I read your temple experience I saw that a relationship exists with ancient thinking, modern understanding. I marvel that your very interesting experience began with you having an “urge” to go to a particular temple. You relate several other instances of intuitive urgings. I know, from wide personal experience, that many people will understand to your reference to intuition – I certainly have an understanding.

I read with interest your statement that the human body is temple of our soul.
I want to go on and on but I resist the temptation. Your book Sacred & Naked is a splendid work. I am certain that everyone who reads your work will benefit from your insights, derive pleasure from your humour and have many interesting hours reflecting on what you have written.

I am well versed in Christian theology, principally post-modern theology. Post- modern theology allows questioning orthodox Christian theology. I have no hesitation in saying that your work Sacred & Naked is a worthwhile contribution to philosophical literature.

Very kind regards to you and your family Ruth. I wish you and yours every success.
Glen Marshall.

Bought your book -- good format for bedtime reading… provides the "aha's" and "egads" before a good sleep. Julie Whitfield

Dear Ruth,
Huge congratulations on your fabulous book! I was lapping it up over the last few days and delighted to see your article in this weekends magazine. I found so much resonance with my own life & so the more I got into reading your book, the more I couldn’t believe the coincidences and similarities in our lives.

Warm Regards,
Writer and producer Kaaren Peterson

More reader responses coming soon.

Australian Article Reader's Comments

Dear Ruth,
Thank you for taking the time and effort to write your honest and eloquent account in your article 'Balancing Act'.
It really struck a chord with me as I have also 'down shifted'/ had a sea change.
The sentence I most empathised with was ....
'it has taken me five years of introspection to shake the cloying feeling that somehow I failed by walking away from the 'happy ever after' myth'

I think that it has taken me about 15 months of introspection to realise that the best thing I could do for myself was to forgive myself for daring to take the brave step of stepping back and down.

I wish you and your family all the best.
Blessed be.
June Tan

Letters to Editor
I'm glad Ruth Ostrow realised what is important in life but how many people continually struggle to live without any way of improving their lot and still manage quality of life? The inclusion of this article justifies the struggle for celebrity status…once you are there you are always news, Lyn Jackson

Dear Ruth,

I loved everything about your article. You had me hooked from the second sentence, when you realised "you can sometimes have it all wrong"! Oh I so know that feeling and what follows after that is a period of total confusion and yes that illusion of life is shattered. After having my own ' breakthrough', which is what I also like to call it, I left Australian shored to pursue life as a painter in Italy, a huge departure from my life in advertising. My life in Florence is very simple, I go to school from Monday to Friday learning Italian in the morning and painting in the afternoon. I am loving life, have found love and a passion in painting which I never knew existed. Where life will go from now I have no idea, however letting go was a huge step, what comes into my life now is the exciting part. It has been a tough road, however a life led from the heart is filling my void in ways which I couldn't have imagined possible. You're right, 'its just the law of nature'!.

My letter to you is of admiration of your strength and courage. Your writing will inspire others to take that same leap and it will also heal others beyond your own imagination, as it has helped to heal me.

Thankyou,

Anna

It was a pleasure to read Ruth Ostrow's story ("Balancing Act" April 10-11). It reflects accurately, I believe, what many people now are discovering in their lives. Contrast this viewpoint with the inward-looking ideology of fundamental religious extremism that is bombarding us every day. Thanks for publishing this article. It confirms the high standard The Australian can rightly be proud of.

Stephen Rodgers
New Farm, Qld

Letters to the Editor

I have just had a chance to catch up with Ruth Ostrow's latest 15 min
of fame. (April 10-11) Initially I thought "good for her"
and dismissed the article. But as I considered
it further, I became quite angry. Indeed, the whole article was quite
offensive in its patronising.

Does Ruth Ostrow really think that most Australians are spending long
hours at work to pay the mortgage on a property that is wanted simply
for its prestige value?! And that private schooling is again just
about prestige? That Australian workers are deliberately curtailing
family time in order to press ahead with their own personal quest for
"yuppiedom"?

I would suggest that most Australians are working long hours to simply
maintain a basic lifestyle for their family. And perhaps a little
harder to ensure that their family is able to have the luxury of some
*choice* in how they live. So that they can actually even consider
buying their own home, or sending their children to an independent
school.

Ruth Ostrow and her husband have obviously worked hard and have been
rewarded with a myriad of choices. They chose a "sea change". Fine.
But now those of us living outside the pretentious bubbles of Sydney or
Melbourne - even Byron Bay - need to put our noses back to the
grindstone to pay next month's rent... There is no choice in the
matter.

Dr H. Mendelson
Adelaide, Australia

Letters to Editor
Dear Sir/Madams,
As a self confessed avid fan and regular reader of Ms Ruth Ostrow's column I am writing to convey my heartfelt appreciation for the inspiration and stimulation I have received...and continue to do so...from Ruth's writings..

I am a professional Relationship Therapist and have a special interest in supporting couples in their struggles with intimacy and finding some creative ways to balance the demands of work and family...something I as a re-married divorcee did not manage well till recently..

I have also been facilitating Men's Support Groups in the Brisbane / Ipswich areas for over 10 years now..
As what Shelby Spong would call "...a believer in exile.." ( I am ex-clergy) I have over recent years had a profound interest in Spirituality and the journey of the human Soul...

I mention these aspects of my professional and personal background in order to create the context within which I have found Ruth's wisdom both challenging and comforting...enlightening and encouraging..

I have taken the liberty (which now Ruth knows) of sharing her articles with both my clients and guys in the support groups I conduct..and have quoted her on my monthly Men's Issues segment on ABC State radio (612 4QR)

At 63 I am well aware that some readers would no doubt find Ruth's direct..open and questioning style..both confronting and possibly also offensive..however....if the forthcoming Anzac Day means anything..it surley means that we must continue to defend the right we all have to FEEL OUR TRUTH....BE OUR TRUTH...SPEAK/WRITE OUR TRUTH...

I am delighted at the publication of Ruth's latest book...I will continue to read..reflect on and refer to her articles...and Sir, I can only hope that she will continue to enjoy your support and that of your paper..so that(we) "seekers and travellers" will be able to continue to have access to her wise words and insightful reflections on life..love and all that is SOUL-FULL

Thank you
Dean Olafsen

Dear Ruth
I have just read your article in the Weekend Australian Magazine, April 10-11, 2004, for which I thank you immensely. I believe that the pursuit of the dollar, and the ignorance of nature by most of us in the rat race of Western cultures is confounding Western people, indeed even some conservationists.

I really want to express my admiration for your life and especially your new change of direction. I think those of us lucky to have been born and bred in Tasmania, have places of deep spiritual significance. Fortunately one thing we have been spared is big city life. Thanks for your wonderful article and enjoy your new life! You have always been and continue to be a great source of advice and inspiration for me, especially after my brain haemorrhage at the age of 49 years.

Thank you
Patsy Harmsen Kingston Tasmania

Dear Ruth,

I have been meaning to write to you for a long time, just to say "thank you" and let you know how much I enjoy reading your weekly column in The Weekend Australian. After reading "Balancing act" in today's Magazine issue, I could not contain my good intentions any longer - right now, I am compelled to sit down with you to say how touched I was by your story. To say too, how grateful I am for your giftedness and capacity as a writer to communicate the wisdom and lessons born of your life experience!

I am a 58 year old Catholic sister currently living and working in Adelaide. However, I was born in Lismore, the daughter of Italian migrants and grew up on a farm outside Lismore. I left home at the age of 19 to enter the convent and prior to coming to Adelaide 6 years ago, lived in Sydney and Melbourne. I sometimes get nostalgic for the beautiful countryside I left behind - it seems more spectacular and more "home" to me each time I visit my family. Whenever I hear mention of Byron Bay, and read how life-giving it is for you and your family to be living there now, I rejoice because of the blessing of my own roots and place of birth!

As a life choice, at an early age I espoused many of the spiritual values you speak about and to be faithful is an on-going challenge. I am truly inspired through the discovery of wonderful people like yourself writing the way you do. I hope that I too, above all, by working from the heart and living simply and lovingly, will reflect some of the joy and spirit of freedom that are so evident in the beautiful photo taken with your husband, Morris, and your gorgeous daughter Naomi at your Byron Bay home. I also hope that one day when I am visiting family I will perhaps have the privilege of meeting you.

In the meantime please know that each weekend, as I read your column, you are welcomed into heart and home in faraway Adelaide. Blessings upon you, your family and your writing. May your words touch many more hearts, as they do mine!

Nerina Zanardo
NORWOOD 5067

Letters to Editor
Excuse me while I enjoy my moments in time and keep plugging away at my average wage-paying desk job while pondering the arrogance of the rich who are able to indulge themselves and then entreat us all with their downshifting example, Leanne Carroll Tecoma Vic

Hi Ruth,
Congratulations on such a brilliant article. It aptly explains the rationale in making your decision and the benefits to be derived from removing one-self and family from the "Rat Race."

I can empathise with you as I was in a similar situation to yourself in 1998 and came to exactly the same conclusion, which I too acted upon. We bought a large block of land in Ewingsdale in 1998. I dropped a stress filled job as a senior IT consultant in 1999, which I had been for many years with 24hr/7 day responsibility following a successful assignment in Kuala Lumpur. We moved to Ewingsdale and supervised the building of our house and have never looked back. My belief is that a huge number of people who are earning big money don't comprehend that their life is work and little else. The trouble is that they think that happiness is achieved through material possessions and they don't have the courage or vision to look at alternatives in life before it's too late. I have returned to London, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, all places in which I have worked, during their working day and simply feel sorry for them. It costs my friend in Sydney $300 a week simply to get from his house to the office. It takes me 15 seconds to get to my office.

I smile each day when I walk on Byron Bay beach and think that it cost me about $1-50 in petrol to do this. I then see that it costs anything up to $10,000 a week at this time of the year to stay a week in Byron. Who's the mug?

Best wishes
Jack Midson