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Eleanor Roosevelt Gives Advice about Life
Isn’t she dead?, you might ask. Well, yes. Yet because Eleanor wrote a book, she still speaks, even though she is dead. More than sixty years after Eleanor wrote You Learn by Living, Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life, what reader doesn’t want to live a more fulfilling life? The book was first published in 1960. My used copy is a Fiftieth Anniversary edition, published in 2011, and reprinted in 2020. I ordered this book because someone said it would make a good gift for graduating seniors, either from high school or college. Books come to me in the most circuitous ways, how I hear about them varies, and…
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Shauna Niequist Talks About Change
In her latest book, I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet, Shauna writes about life after death––death of the life she thought she would live. “This is not about what I’ve been through; this is about what remains . . ..” “This book you’re holding is one I’ve been writing and rewriting for years, and as much as I’ve struggled with it, the struggle has healed me, helped me, and forces me to make sense of my story and our world––as much as anyone can. Being a writer means being committed to paying attention, to walking through the world as a noticer. It means finding language for the seemingly unspeakable,…
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“Un-distracted” in an Age of Wild Assaults
“To write a great book, you must first become the book.” Naval Ravikant Bob Goff becomes the books he writes. At least, he lives the book before he writes it. Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose Rediscover Your Joy Somehow, Bob freed himself from distractions in his own life to write a book that he hopes will help readers capture their own purpose and joy. Bob oozes authenticity from an oversized personality that spills onto the pages of the books he has written. Going. Blowing. Doing. “When it comes to the words we use, we’re never shooting blanks.” Bob Goff Bob wants to help other people realize the fullest potential in their…
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Affected by Addiction? How Reading Other People’s Stories Can Help
In early February, I finished reading Elizabeth Vargas’s book: Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction. Like so many other good books I have read, approaching the last pages, I wonder how in the world of words can the writer conclude their story in so few pages? Then, POW! Because all books have to stop on a page, (even though life stories continue to unfold), Elizabeth’s wrap-up punched a hole in this reader’s armor. Bodily reaction to the pain she so poignantly described included tightness in my chest, shallow breathing, leaking eyes, and an audible gasp as this book made me think about my mom. My mom was a…
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How Far Can I Stretch the Word FRIEND?
The western Silverado introduces the character Paden (Kevin Kline) after he has been robbed, left to die in the middle of open desert, head lying on a rock, arms across his chest, and feet crossed at the ankles––a sweet repose that indicates he’s given up. Then a Good Samaritan comes along and gives him a drink of water from his canteen. First spoken line in the film, Paden whispers, “Good to meet you.” The robbers stole his horse, his boots, his clothes, leaving him wearing worn long johns––the kind with a trap door. Paden explains his circumstances. Paden: “Me, I’m riding along, minding my own business. Four cowboys come by…
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Man’s Search for Meaning . . . of Words
A book I recently read and am now listening to on Audible weaves together the story of 3 boys whose lives intersect and take them on an adventure via The Lincoln Highway [1]. “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” ― Francis Bacon, The Essays Already referred to as a classic, The Lincoln Highway, like Amor Towles’ previous novels––A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility––the payoff for readers comes…
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By Faith, You Can See Yourself in the Big Family Picture
You may find it hard, if not impossible, to imagine yourself in a picture taken before you were born. Pick a picture, any picture. Hold a picture of your parents as children, or your parents as adults. Can you see yourself as their peer? Can you imagine yourself in some of the scenes of their story which they have described? Just as difficult, imagine a loved one appearing in a current picture long after their departure. If your parents have died, how would you imagine they would look added to this year’s Christmas card? Photoshop can merge images, sometimes making illusions appear real. But here, I ask you to picture…
