Whenever I need a lift, I find that I often reach for my
old copy of “Gifts from the Sea,” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. It was written in
the early 1950s while she was on vacation on Florida's Captiva Island. She
presents essays about shells she picks up on the beach and uses for inspiration. She
shares meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and
contentment.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh (née Anne Spencer Morrow, 1906 – 2001) was an American author, aviator, and the spouse of fellow aviator Charles Lindbergh. She was an acclaimed author whose books and articles spanned the genres of poetry to non-fiction, including the role of women in the 20th Century.
I first read the book in the 1970s and have picked it up again and again over the years.
After all, I don't see why I am always asking for
private, individual, selfish miracles when every year there are miracles like
white dogwood.
America, which has the most glorious present still
existing in the world today, hardly stops to enjoy it, in her insatiable
appetite for the future.
Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense
of quiet in a crowded day.
By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers
who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class.
Don't wish me happiness - I don't expect to be happy it's
gotten beyond that, somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor
- I will need them all.
For happiness one needs security, but joy can spring like
a flower even from the cliffs of despair.
For sleep, one needs endless depths of blackness to sink
into; daylight is too shallow, it will not cover one.
Good communication is just as stimulating as black
coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
Grief can't be shared. Everyone carries it alone. His own
burden in his own way.
I believe that what woman resents is not so much giving
herself in pieces as giving herself purposelessly.
When I cannot write a poem, I bake biscuits and feel just
as pleased.
Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a
sense of quiet in a crowded day- like writing a poem or saying a prayer.
I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If
suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To
suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness, and
the willingness to remain vulnerable.
What a complex woman- thanks for introducing me to her writing.
ReplyDeleteA 'Sense of Peace' is one of my favourite small poems by AML I found it in a book of Flower poems given to me by my hb.
ReplyDeleteIt brings a sense of peace to me just as she wrote.
I knew very little of her thank you for the information.
I enjoy learning & sharing interesting items in blogland. Ida
Thank you for these quotes. I needed them too : )!
ReplyDeleteGreat reading for a Sat night after an exhausting day. I'm behind on my reading but catching up tonight.
ReplyDelete