The World Is a Waiting Lover: Desire and the Quest for the Beloved [Paperback]

Trebbe Johnson (Author), Thomas Moore (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2005

Johnson explores the concept of the Beloved — the elusive, alluring force that beckons us forth to passionate engagement with the world — and shows how our sense of love is often linked to something far greater than ourselves. She explains that mistaking a human lover for the inner, eternal Beloved is the first step in any romance, yet the ability to distinguish between the two ultimately holds the key to our quest for personal freedom and fulfillment. Steeped in Western and Eastern myth and romantic imagery, The World is a Waiting Lover guides us through story and thought in order to discover passion, Eros, and our authentic selves. It is a personal story and, at the same time, an invitation to explore our individual yearnings to live with fearless authenticity as we find more passion and meaning in our work, relationships, and view of the future.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Can be read as a grand adventure, a love story, or a guide book on attaining union with the divine." -- Toinette Lippe, Parabola

From the Back Cover

Praise for Trebbe Johnson's Work

"Trebbe Johnson has written a beautiful journey of love, desire, and inspiration, a spiritual search for the Beloved in the human heart."
-- Judy Collins, singer, author, songwriter, and activist

"In this powerfully original work Trebbe Johnson captures human allurement in its most potent forms, from erotic attraction to love of the earth to spiritual longing. Like any strong magnetic force, The World Is a Waiting Lover is elegant, fiery, and irresistible."
-- Brian Swimme, PhD, professor of cosmology at California Institute of Integral Studies and author of The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos

"Here is a deep call to enter into the ecstatic mysteries of the heart's Beloved: do not reject the invitation!"
-- Caitlín Matthews, author of In Search of Women's Passionate Soul and The Da Vinci Enigma Tarot

"From colorful threads of personal experience, ancient myths, and modern stories, Trebbe Johnson weaves together a stunning tapestry of the Beloved, mortal and immortal. This candid narrative describes the passion and creativity that enriches life when one encounters the Beloved as soul-guide."
-- Nancy Qualls-Corbett, PhD, author of The Sacred Prostitute and Awakening Woman

"'The Beloved beckons us into our own being,' writes Trebbe Johnson; and as she reveals her quest for Sacred Intimacy, offers us a myriad possibilities to allure, attract, and hold the human as well as the divine Beloved. An inspiring, courageous journey, inviting us to live 'passionately' ever after."
-- Diane Wolkstein, author of Treasures of the Heart: Holiday Stories That Reveal the Soul of Judaism

"Like all good books, this one is seductive. . . . It entices you to fall into your own precious mystery, to let your spirit take flesh as you become a human being, and to let your ordinary life find its spiritual core. . . . Trebbe Johnson's writing is personal and mythic, social and mystical, concrete and confessional. It is honest and relentless in pursuit of the winged Eros that hovers behind every momentary attraction and persistent obsession."
-- From the foreword by Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul

"The World Is a Waiting Lover is a rich, vivacious treatise on spiritual longing and the allurement of a mystical engagement with life. Like the familiar curves of a once-forgotten lover -- compelling and unveiled -- these sensual, wisdom-drenched pages will remind you and guide you toward your heart's ancient passion and your soul's truest desire; a masterful blending of the personal and archetypal powers on the move."
-- Frank MacEowen, author of The Mist-Filled Path

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (October 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577314794
• ISBN-13: 978-1577314790
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eros is alive, well and living within!, December 10, 2005

By 

F. Gaia (Durango, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The World Is a Waiting Lover: Desire and the Quest for the Beloved (Paperback)

Intrigued by the reviews I bought this book for a friend, planning to read it myself first. 1/3 of the way through I knew I had to have my own copy and also give it to other good friends. I had a brief hurtful flirtation with lust (at the advanced age of 60+) that had reawakened my erotic self and impacted not just my life but my wardrobe .... from LLBean to subtly sexy and loving it. I had the good fortune to have loving intelligent supportive friends who guided me through the pain to healing and reclaiming a part of me long dormant. This book is like that - a good friend that challenges you to look deeper than the circumstances of different encounters in life to where they lead you, what they arouse in you that is truly yours. I have seen how a woman can pine after a lost love long after he's gone from her life, naively expecting some kind of reunion, when his role was to "escort" her to a dormant part of herself and move on - not to excuse men behaving badly but to find the pearl amidst the swine.
Inspired by Trebbe's book I made a list of all the "escorts" in my life from childhood (with it's good share of issues) to now that led me to a more authentic sense of myself. Brief romantic but unrequited encounters sychonistically came at a time when I was resigning myself to living a life less than what I knew was my deepest heart's desire - real human love with a man who would be my friend, lover and soul-mate. This book helped me grasp the difference between the man appearing in my dreams/fantasies, none other than Eros, the god, and the human one, who will be different and a surprise.
Trebbe's skillfully weaves her revealing personal story together with myth, psychology and spirituality. It was a surprising page turner you would not expect from a "personal growth" book - difficult to put down, profound, eye-opening, insightful yet easy to read and grounded. I had to pause only to digest and reflect it's application to my own life. It helped to thread together the people and experiences in my life to who I am today and to walk forward with eagerness to what is to come. It made me look deeper at the subtle and not so subtle things that attract, delight, ground me, warm my heart and guide me to plumb the depths of my own spirit: from the luscious taste of dark chocolate mousse cake to the expansive wild beauty of the Colorado mountains to the way I fall in love instantly with a bouncy Golden Retriever puppy. What do they say about who I am? is the question this book poses.
It has indeed made me more aware that the love I seek from a man is already alive in me (while still desiring the human form), that I already live in the world passionately, creatively with gratitude for the warmth of the sun after a cold winter storm, for the bright light of the moon in the night sky, for the loved ones that grace my life. Eros is alive and well and living in me. Thank you Trebbe.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find out where your crushes can lead you!, April 18, 2006

By 

Christine M. Lekander "Self Help Junkie" (Cave Creek, Arizona 85331) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The World Is a Waiting Lover: Desire and the Quest for the Beloved (Paperback)

I loved this book so much I had to wait a couple of weeks before I could finish it because I didn't want it to be over. If you've ever wondered where a crush could take you in your life, this is the book to read. Initially, it is a bit slow and the style of writing is more descriptive than I like, but it soon turns into a real page turner. One thing is for sure, if you're wondering why you're still getting crushes on people while you're already in a committed and happy relationship, this book will clear any issues you might have with that right up!

Trebbe Johnson shares with us her own experiences with desire and shows us what it means. She tells about how attractions to other people, especially when unrequited, are really calls or escorts to our own inner beloved. The call seems to be for the real person, but instead it leads her to follow and know the deepest part of herself, the part that allows her to express her most valuable passions. She writes that,

"The Escort to the Beloved is the person who by deserting us, eluding us, frustrating us, forcing us to face some truth we've been avoiding or some asset we've been trying to reject with misplaced humility, makes it possible for us to start living in a way we desparately need to and have been postponing all too long." (p. 108)

And she makes it plain to see just how we have a "habit of placing on the heads of others the crown of laurels -- or thorns -- we most need to wear ourselves..." And, "Because we want so badly to find and capitalize on our own vital, developing qualities yet sense that doing so is the work of a lifetime, we take what our heart tells us will be the easier route: we locate the missing link in somebody else and heap our passion there." (p.109)

Johnson did her homework with this book. It is filled with references to myth and psychology in a way that is not only appropriate to the material that she is writing about, but also that seriously educates the reader. She entices even those who aren't that interested in myth or psychology to know more! And for those who are interested, Johnson's Notes and Bibliography are worth their weight in gold.


I rate this book a five star experience!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars pulling oneself together, January 21, 2006

By 

M. Gaffney (Guilford CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The World Is a Waiting Lover: Desire and the Quest for the Beloved (Paperback)

The compelling story of a mature woman's journey to the fullness of herself, this book is also a thoughtful, well-written, and highly original look at love, passion, and the divine--complete with footnotes and a bibliography for those who want to explore these topics in other readings. But more importantly, in telling her own story of how an infatuation with a younger man shook up her marriage and her work, Trebbe's honesty and curiosity offer a model for dealing with life-challenging allurements.

For the sake of full disclosure, I should say that I know Trebbe and have taken two vision quests with her as my guide. So I had heard details of her story. But the book offers much more than her personal story. It also sheds an interesting light on the meaning of certain classical myths, and offers examples from other people's experiences in fully claiming themselves--aspects they like as well as those they've ignored or run from. Such fulfillment is a lengthy process, as Trebbe documents. And while the quest for the Beloved may begin in middle or later life, it is seldom a journey we complete in this life. It is enough to start in pursuit of our own connection to divine wholeness.

Although highly relevant to women, the quest for individuation and integration is a gender-free process. And this book offers examples of how men and women can deal with a "mid-life crisis" and find greater fulfillment in living. Thank you Trebbe. I look forward to other books from you.