Part memoir, part spiritual and philosophical exploration, and part self-help manual, Sherry Griffith’s Discovering the Great I AM is aimed at those hoping to wake up from unconscious patterns and conditioning and make more informed, conscious, and joyful choices.
Griffith is a social worker and therapist trained in cognitive behavioral therapy. She is deeply immersed in consciousness literature and practices—from Jung to quantum physics to Carlos Castaneda. Raised in a rigid Christian tradition with limited ideas of God, she eventually began to question these notions, especially as she experienced more expansive encounters with the divine. This, she discovered, is everything.
Her book features three parts. The first is her history, where she shares how her core beliefs shaped her reality and what she believed possible. Throughout, she reminds us that to make better life choices, we must first recognize our core beliefs; thus, it’s key to reflect closely on our life stories and family patterns from birth to understand how they limit our lives.
The second part consists of entries from Griffith’s personal journal over several years, with interspersed commentary, showing her own process of awakening sprinkled with therapeutic-reflective discussions.
The third part is a workbook, leading readers through informative, practical steps toward identifying, then changing, their core beliefs to make healthier life choices.
Griffith’s writing style is clear, personable and appealing. Unfortunately, it’s bogged down by repetition, particularly concerning the need to discard some of our core beliefs, but also in her philosophical and spiritual discussions.
Additionally, the presentation of biographical information can be confusing, as events aren’t always chronological or explained completely when introduced, only to reappear with added information in later chapters. This makes it hard to piece the author’s history together and understand the patterns she’s revealing through them.
Griffith nevertheless successfully illustrates how readers can discover, release, and change the patterns that limit them. Doing so, Griffith stresses with equal weight, will change the world as well.
Also available in hardcover and ebook..
