A Piece of My Mind
Jeremy van der Ventel
All Nations Helping Hands Publishers
Review: Roshan Abrahams
This short story book is the memoir of the author and his account of his emotional transformation.
As a young man he had always questioned everything in life.
The subtitle “Don’t believe every Why you hear” depicts the essence of the book in which he interprets his feelings and emotions to help understand what makes him tick.
He uses his analogy of accepting himself, weaknesses and all, but focuses on the lifeline that makes life worth living − his family.
He describes the types of emotions everyone experiences such as doubt, anger, fear, happiness and analyses each of them, getting down
to the root of what triggers these emotions.
Mr Van der Ventel talks about low self-esteem and how he battled with an “angry friend”.
He separates himself from his emotions and to fully understand his feelings, he personifies them.
He shares his experience on how he strengthened his relationship with his wife, and he has a special story on his feelings as a father for his daughter Hannah, who has autism and how she draws him close with her unconditional love that makes him a better
father.
He records the turmoil and grief he experienced when he lost his mother and emphasises the importance of the presence of a father, observing the transformation in his own son.
He deals with his teenage son’s behaviour by making sure he understands where it’s coming from and how he would react to it.
One of the extracts reads: “There is a place in life which we should all aspire to − when we reach that place of understanding and what it is to be truly content.”
I often found myself nodding in agreement with
Mr Van der Ventel; many of his analogies on emotions are aptly described and will be familiar to to most people.
Mr Van der Ventel said he is at that point when being content is the full understanding of happiness, where he is released from guilt and remorse of past mistakes.
Each story depicts how he grows as a person and at the end of every story, he adds an inspirational quote which summarises his revelation.
It is available as an eBook at R200 each and the paperback copy is R250.
To buy a copy, contact Mr Van der Ventel on WhatApp only, on 074 958 2939.
