‘A handbook for the happy and a bible for the broken hearted.’

‘ The Alphabet of the Human Heart is an enchanting and enriching journey through the upside and the downside of what it means to be human – our hopes and fears, our strengths and our weaknesses, our highs and our lows’.

This book is basically two illustrated alphabets for adults which meet in the middle with Z for Zen.
There’s an upside alphabet, where (on the upside) A is for adventure, and on the downside A is for anger.

Other examples include: ‘B is for balance. Every moment your life is in the balance. Weigh your options.’ On the downside: ‘B is for boredom. B too busy to be bored.’
Want more examples?

Consider: ‘K is for knowledge. Pass it on.’ Or ‘K is for karma. Whether your karma is good or bad depends on your intentions.’

And: ‘I is for imagination. Imagine what’s possible. Make it happen.’ Or ‘I is for insecurity. Insecurity is a dis-ease. It stems from negative self-perception.’

So what, you may be asking? How do aphorisms help? For me, the key to this book is the way in which the drawings combine with the words chosen to illustrate the messages. A picture can indeed be worth a thousand words. Some drawings made me smile, others didn’t. But each one made me mindful of life. And for those who suffer from depression, the letter D is significant in both alphabets:

‘D is for daring. Daring is doing.’
‘D is for depression. If you think you might be depressed, the bravest thing you can do is seek help.’

Reading this book won’t take long. The insights into the highs and lows of life are beautifully reinforced through the drawings.

Moving from ‘Overwhelmed’ to ‘Optimistic’ can be done: one step at a time. ‘When things get on top of you, it’s time to get on top of things.’

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Review to come.

Creative stylistic choices in art and font, and thought-provoking and stimulating messages. Everyone needs to read this book.