Joan Didion looks way cool in that Corvette. Reminds me of me, back in the late 70’s, in my blue metal flaked Chevy Malibu. But back to the life lessons.
In my section of the Southern California coast the marine mist appears in the early evening and grays over the landscape. This becomes a perfect time for reflecting on the day and writing in my journal.
Today I cleaned out one bookshelf and selected 25 books to donate to the library. The first 10 books were an easy choice, the last 15 much harder. A short task took a few hours. Any reader knows how you can get lost in a book, even if you’ve read it before.
I flipped through pages, reread paragraphs, remembered characters, and debated whether the book made it into the donation box. Many times I pulled a book out and put it back on the shelf.
At the end of the book donation I wrote down a few life lessons that made their way into my heart again.
One of the books was from Joan Didion. Here are seven more life lessons from other women writers:
1. Kindness can be a lifesaver.
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop…Naomi S. Nye
2. Always be true to yourself.
“When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget who you are…” Sandra Cisneros
3-Heal your wounds. You have more strength, more resilience, and more inner wisdom than you think you do. You’ll get through it, survive and thrive.
“Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise…” Maya Angelou
4–Leave the past in the past.
“Remember the past, but don’t get lost back there. Celebrate the blessings of the past in the present, but remember to live today. Today is built on the past and tomorrow is evolving from both the past and the present. The future? Quien sabe? (who knows)” Denise Chavez
5-Age is a number and an attitude.
“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” Betty Friedan
6. Solitude can be valuable. It’s all in your perspective.
“Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that’s where I renew my springs that never dry up. ~Pearl Buck
7. You can begin again.
Only one of the books that contain the above quotes made it into the donation box. Can you guess which one? Where do you find your life lessons?
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