Pssst. What's The Secret?

What Books Like The Secret Say About Our Society

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

I've been hearing so much about that new book called The Secret. Everyone's reading the book or watching the movie, including Oprah. But I don't get it. Can one book really hold the secret to our happiness? Wouldn't the world be a much different place if this were the case?

Sincerely,

Tell Me The Secret

Dear Tell Me The Secret,

The claims that thought can change biology is not new with The Secret. The Transcendental Meditation folks have been suggesting this for a long time before The Secret was even an idea. Yoga has some components of this tenet, too. And while there are no studies that show stress directly changes cells, there is common wisdom that stress can promote heart disease and other illnesses.

So, why The Secret?

When an author writes a book that resonates with audiences, it becomes a hit. The Secret is not new. In fact, there was The Celestine Prophecy before that, and many others before that. Oprah publicizes a self help book every year that gets the same reception that The Secret gets.

What's most interesting, however, is that there is so much desire for help and direction. The reason for the desire is that there is a collective personal crisis of responsibility and leadership going on across America. The symptoms are the breakdown of the family (divorce is now the norm), the breakdown of the romantic relationship (my own books, Think & Date Like A Man, for women, and Date Out of Your League, for men, were written because of an outcry from readers and clients for relationship advice), the lost ways of Gens X, Y and Z, and the crisis in American leadership as evidenced in politics.

Life coaches are now employed to try and get people back on track. Self help books are consumed with the same passion as energy drinks, which serve to change our biochemistry because we don't accept the way we are, naturally.

The phenomenon of The Secret is that it is no secret. It's common sense that these breakdowns in culture lead to searches for leadership and safety.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

© 2004-2009 AskApril.com, LLC. All rights reserved. AskApril®, AskApril.com®, and Ask April® are registered trademarks owned by Masini Enterprises, Inc. This material can only be republished and redistributed if it is kept in it's original form, including, but not limited to, all AskApril branding, banners, links, books, and credits.