Don't Worry

You would think I would learn from experience. But no, not so much. Maybe needing reminders is just the human condition. I think so.

So, I was watering my beloved plants. Love the plants, not the watering. I was a bit out of sorts because something I had wanted to do for pleasure (go to an afternoon movie) had been sidetracked by a serious of unforeseeable events. I wanted to at least accomplish watering the plants so I would feel the day had not been completely lost. Then I remembered something. I remembered another day, a kind of déjà vu thing, when I was also watering plants. I actually wrote about it in my blog almost exactly two years ago. On that afternoon, two years ago, I remember stopping and picking up a book of poems by Mary Oliver.

I wrote:

“Instead of being in the moment like I’m always preaching and noticing their (the plant’s) beauty, I’m rushing through the task with a vengeance. What stopped me was this. As I was waiting for the trays to fill with water, I was reading a Mary Oliver poem. Her vivid imagery reminded me that life is a series of moments. Why living in the present moment is such a difficult task that needs constant reminding, I do not know. I do know it’s best to take care and not let those moments slip away. Enjoy them when you can. See them. Be there.”

So I walked over and picked up a book of poems by Mary Oliver called Felicity. A different one than before, actually. Immediately my mood changed. I was calm. I once again was reminded of the beauty around me. I didn’t worry about the past. I didn’t worry about the future. I didn’t worry about what I did or did not accomplish. I did not anguish over the meaning of life. For that moment, I was in the moment.  

Some people have the gift of seeing. And they share that gift with us. Mary Oliver is one of those magical people.

“Things take the time they take. Don’t Worry.”

-from a poem by Mary Oliver

FAVORITE BOOK OF 2016

I made my first choice for favorite Book of the Year in August 2015. So, for consistency, my year will continue to run from August to July. My book selections this year:

August 2015:  The Winter Sea- Susannah Kearsley & Dream Lover- Elizabeth Berg

September 2015:  Minnow- James E. McTeer

October 2015:  Shine Shine Shine- Lydia Netzer 

November 2015:  A Spool of Blue Thread- Anne Tyler

December 2015: A Tale For The Time Being- Ruth Ozeki

January 2016:  The Secret Place- Tana French

February 2016: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress- Sijie Dai

March 2016:  My Name Is Lucy Barton- Elizabeth Strout

April 2016: The Rake’s Tale- Bettie Williams & The Killing Floor- Lee Child

May 2016: The Secret Chord & The People of the Book- (both by) Geraldine Brooks

June 2016:  The Short Drop- Matthew Fitzsimmons

July 2016: Eligible- Curtis Sittenfeld

This has been a good year. Lots of good books made this a difficult choice. As usual, more books were read or listened to on tape than I reviewed, but the ones above made the cut. I decided a while ago that I was not going to disparage another author’s work. If I don’t like it , I won’t review it. That being said, my favorite book this year was, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.

This novel has stayed with me. Truly beautifully written, the finely drawn characters and unique story are memorable and haunting.

AUGUST 2016 BOOK SELECTION- THE INVENTION OF WINGS

This month I went from light to heartrending. I have only once before had such a visceral reaction to a story. That novel was the brilliantly written Kedzie, St. Helena Island Slave by Bonnie Stanard which I highly recommend. Interestingly enough, it was about the same subject matter.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd is a well-known book and deservedly so. Several years ago, it was an Oprah book selection, a surefire jettison to bestsellerdom. But I didn’t choose it for that reason. In fact, I frequently find that I have to follow my own instinct on what I choose to read. I am often disappointed by what is recommended by friends. Reading is just so personal, isn’t it? I started listening to it as a book-on-tape and quickly found I had to own the paperback.

The story takes place during the pre-Civil War climate of the early 1800’s in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces the relationship between Sarah Grimke, the white daughter of an upper-class plantation-owning family and Handful, the slave girl that was her “gift” upon the occasion of Sarah’s eleventh birthday. The novel is based on the real life of Sarah Grimke who became one of the first female Abolitionists and a pioneer, along with her sister, Angelina, as a women’s rights advocate.

Growing up in the south, I have been aware of the heinous history of slavery all my life. Kidd’s writing is sheer poetry, but the detailed descriptions of the repression and casual brutality sickened me and left me overwhelmed with grief and a new awareness. Perhaps because of all the recent, violent events, there is new understanding that we are a long way from healing the scars of racism that were the result of slavery.

Sue Monk Kidd quotes the words of Professor Julius Lester: “History is not just facts and events. History is also a pain in the heart and we repeat history until we are able to make another’s pain in the heart our own.”

I recommend this book if you think your heart can take it.