Life. Books. Family. Unschooling. Faith.
I have made many mistakes in my life. But having seven children and homeschooling are not any of the mistakes. To erase or to manipulate my history in one swift time machine trip would be to erase the good with the bad.
I am who I am. I fight for others. I own my choices and stand firm against abuse. I am not a victim. I am whole.
Cheryl Strayed, in her book Wild, describes her journey, hiking across one side of the U.S. while facing her ‘demons’. She wrote that she told herself that she would change the script that many women are told. She told herself that she was strong, safe, brave. I liked that. It fit my script, that dialogue… Continue reading I am strong. I am safe. I am brave. But….
At book club recently we discussed adult fairy tales. The patterns in the narrative. The occurrence of a magical event that transforms. The presence of a mentor or helper. The repetition in plot. The novel I write of below does not fit this genre and yet…there is a thread of the repetition and mentor in all spy thrillers. Think John Le Carre here, for example.
Traditionally, on Twelfth Night one put away their Christmas tree – or risk bad luck for the rest of the year. Twelfth Night affords us time to reflect on these goals and dreams. What is it, really, that we want 2018 to bring? And how will that look, in our every day lives?
Above all, remember why it is that we who are readers read. It may be because:
“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.” – Ernest Hemingway
We, like the young adults that YA fiction is written for, begin to understand more of our complex world and more of the complexity of others. YA fiction pushes us towards positive change.
In Bridget Jones’ Diary, Bridget wonders why her parents and their generation seem to have it all together. She wonders why they don’t seem to suffer the angst and worry of herself and her friends. Maybe, she ponders, maybe this happens because they didn’t and don’t read self-help books.
Are you a Jane Austen fan? I am. And I have often wondered how the simple stories of villages and the fate of women can hold so many generations.
I think it comes down to style. Jane has a quiet satirical style. For her novels are not really romances (though Hollywood might disagree). Romances are not enough to hold my attention. And, I think, the attention of generations. Instead, her novels tell of the raw life of women – in her time, and in ours.
Food and hunger are not the enemy.
Nothing is. Really.
Because nobody can tell you how to participate in life. You have to do it. (Though mercy, love and support from others can help, right?)
