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MJ Harden
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It Takes Only One Kindle Edition

by MJ Harden (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 41 ratings
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"It Takes Only One" is an allegorical tale of a young spirit, a baby with no name, no gender, no obvious race, no particular nationality—just humanity—a literary “Everyman” on a hero’s journey into self knowledge. Our young spirit is a clear and empty slate who meets characters beloved the world over who teach that “It Takes Only One” to do the job you are born to do.

Legendary and mythological characters who share their wisdom include redwood trees, Scottish witches, moon goddesses, elephants, Quan Yin, Alice and the Wonderland characters, the Greek Oracle at Delphi, the Arthurian legend Fisher King and more.

This adventure into truth and wisdom becomes an odyssey of discovery: how to save the world (and yourself) as only you can.
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  1. Print length
    134 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    March 30, 2016
  5. File size
    17360 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01DPP0JHA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aka Press; 1st edition (March 30, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 30, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 17360 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 134 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 41 ratings

About the author

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MJ Harden

MJ Harden

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After traveling the globe for years, mj settled on Maui where she wrote a Maui travel guide that won Hawaii’s “Best New Guidebook” award. She also published a feature magazine for Maui residents and created a magazine for Maui's arts 'n cultural center, and she wrote a monthly magazine for Maui's hospital.

In 2000, her book of interviews with important Hawaiian elders, “Voices of Wisdom Hawaiian Elders Speak,” won a first-place national award, and in 2004, mj wrote a documentary on Hawaiian history and culture for the opening of the Smithsonian's new American Indian Museum.

Since the early ‘80s, mj has owned Hike Maui, an award-winning eco tour business. Years later, she started a sister company, Rappel Maui, rappelling waterfalls deeper into adventure.

During the time mj owned adventure tour businesses, working outdoors, her book "It Takes Only One" was percolating and brewing from imagination into reality.

web: http://www.mjhardenbooks.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjhardenbooks

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
41 global ratings
I love this book.
5 Stars
I love this book.
Magical, mythological, eccentric—such a unique book. It takes you, chapter by chapter, deeper into the wisdom we all yearn for.
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Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Hero's Journey
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
It took me several chapters to start appreciating the knowledge of the author, mj harden. Ms. Harden presents a baby being born with Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome. This Little Blue baby takes a Hero’s Journey, visiting numerous people, places, and things. It knows nothing and wants to know its purpose in life.
The Little Blue One meets Percival and Kookaburra, Alice in Wonderland, Ape of Borneo, The tricksters - Huckleberry Finn, Raven, and Coyote, The Redwood Trees in California, and many more. He, she, or it finally meets Gilgamesh of Mesopotamia who provokes the statement “We are mere theatre with continuous plays revolving and evolving.”
Gilgamesh’s story was perhaps the oldest story in the world, written on clay tablets and found in 1853 in Iraq. Gilgamesh was on a hero’s journey just like everybody on earth akin to mythical stories which have a hero who seeks the unknown, reaches the goal, and returns home to share is gift or reveal what he has learned.
In the book, we also read of Wizard Merlin in the Labyrinth in which the Hero’s Journey is to look for the Holy Grail, which is a quest of yourself, or is symbolic of your life purpose.
The secret of life is revealed within the story of the Little Blue One. I encourage you to read this book and discover a wealth of knowledge.
As a side note - I find it quizzical that I read the book the same day that Oscar Wilde dies. Oscar Wilde played the part of the Fox in The Little Prince musical who gave the little prince the secret to life - "... the secret is invisible to the eye..."
2 people found this helpful
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susan
4.0 out of 5 stars Well done
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
A wild fast journey through the wisdoms of all the spiritual "teachers" you know, and several you don't know. The author has a good sense of the focus of each wisdom heritage and all are notated with details of the known history of the teachers. Fantastic ink drawings accompany the chapters as well. BUT you have to have a very good vocabulary to read this, and likely will choose to read it in stages, pondering the "lessons" of each chapter. This is a book you will choose to keep by your reading chair for years.

It took me some time to get into the first chapter of teachings, since it's so densely written, almost rap form.
One person found this helpful
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J.R. Sedivy
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging On Many Levels
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
It Takes Only One is a fascinating short story that will engage your imagination on a number of levels. On the surface it has a fairy tale type feel and draws upon many historical stories and myths in an effective way. This aspect will make the book enjoyable for the casual reader. Below the surface there are symbolic meanings and allusions which will hold the attention of the more in-depth reader. Also, It Takes Only One is broken up into nice bite sized chapters - each chapter has the ability to stand alone as its own story while at the same time contributing to the overall tale. This makes the book easy to read at various times throughout the day if you would like a fun diversion from other activities.

One unique aspect I really appreciated was that at the end of each chapter the author discusses her rationale behind using certain elements within each specific chapter’s plotline. This really helps clarify for some of the more obscure references, while at the same time allowing for the reader to revisit each chapter with a fresh perspective. I found many of the notes to be of great interest which in turn contributed to the overall experience.

It Takes Only One is an enjoyable book for both the casual and spiritual reader alike. The adventurous plot provides a fun diversion while at the same time providing some very insightful spiritual lessons.
3 people found this helpful
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Filipa (A Savant Reader)
3.0 out of 5 stars “It Takes Only One” is a collection of stories and myths put together to divulge strong, valuable messages
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
In “It Takes Only One”, written by MJ Harden, we follow Blue Baby in an adventure around the world, meeting several well-known characters, each with a small piece of wisdom to offer. Blue Baby is an “Everyman”, a character with which any reader can identify with. Blue Baby is an innocent child that does not know who he or she is (Blue Baby has no gender, no name, no nationality) and therefore can be anyone.

I compare “It Takes Only One” to “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Such as the Little Prince, Blue Baby travels and meets several people that always teach him something knew. In a way, it is a coming-of-age story as Blue Baby soon learns that each person has a job in this world and that he alone can make a difference. MJ Harden borrows famous characters from myths and literature such as Pippi Longstocking, Huckleberry Finn and Alice from “Alice in Wonderland” to aid Blue Baby as he/she discovers him/herself which provides a sense of familiarity to the reader.

However, that were also many characters I had never heard off such as Quan Yin, Quetzalcoatl or Hanuman. With “It Takes Only One” I managed to get a glimpse of other cultures and their myths as a footnote was present at the end of each chapter explaining the origin of each character in the previous text. Nevertheless, this meant that I spent most of the chapter completely confused of what was going on and only made sense of things in the end. I thing that this information should somehow be present in the narrative itself as stopping between each chapter to read a few pages of definitions and facts broke the fluidity of the story. This made reading a bit tiresome and often made me put the book down and do something else. Also, when characters such as Alice and Huck were present, the text was written to imitate the literary works from which they were borrowed. This meant that there were various writing styles present in a single book, making it a bit confusing. Additionally, there were so many different characters present that sometimes I felt some of them gave no wisdom at all or just repeated things others had said. It is often heard that less is more and I believe that this book would have benefitted from fewer characters with bigger roles.

Overall, “It Takes Only One” is a collection of stories and myths put together to divulge strong, valuable messages. “For every one there is a reason”, “No cliff is so tall that it cannot be scaled”, “T’is yer life to forge”, “Never ever say you’re small” and “Only you can do your job” are some of the lessons present in this book but the most important one, as the title itself suggests, is that one person can make a big difference. Change always has to start with someone, why not you?
2 people found this helpful
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Jacquelyn
1.0 out of 5 stars Could not get into it.
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
I found this to be very disjointed. And a couple of paragraphs written in some other person's voice, followed by at least that much telling me who that person was? I don't think so!
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