"The End of Absence"

I just recently read this book, THE END OF ABSENCE, and like all excellent books, it left me with more questions than answers about this life and how to live it well. 

 I will not attempt to write a comprehensive review of it here, as there are many wonderful ones that have already been written  - such as this from The Washington Post.

  But the basic theme that Harris asks us to explore is that we are the last generation who will have known life before and after the digital revolution which has enabled us to be constantly connected to everyone from anywhere.  And so we have a unique opportunity to ponder what it is we have gained - and at what price.

The word ABSENCE has a somewhat negative connotation for most of us, I think, as it implies that something good is missing, that there is a lack, a hole, an emptiness.  But of course, the irony is that many "digital natives" (term Harris uses for this upcoming generation who have never known life before the internet) do see any time away from computer/phone/internet as a negative experience - they do perceive it as an absence, and yet all these devices that promise so called connectivity, often produce the exact opposite effect - they leave us DISCONNECTED to our deeper selves and to the world around us.  They prevent us from being PRESENT to others and to the miracle of life itself. 

Much of Harris's observations and insights relate to my passion for stories and promoting the art of reading aloud to our children at home and in school - reading aloud GOOD stories. The act of reading aloud gives us that time to PAUSE and PONDER, to BASK in a whiff of wonder or a bolt of beauty - and it offers our little ones an alternative to the digital world - it fosters this sense of wonder that our digital obsession is fast eroding.

Perhaps Hamlet's dilemma "TO BE OR NOT TO BE is more relevant now than ever, as more and more of us are choosing not "to be" by being swept up into this frantic frenzy of pseudo connectivity and multi-tasking - thus we suffer a certain kind of death - not of the flesh, but of the spirit.  

Quite a quandary, no?

Mothers

Mother Holle

From Cinderella to Snow White, from Mother Holle to  Hansel and Gretel, stepmothers in fairytales are notoriously wicked! 
But one of my daughter’s favorite books from her childhood was a story called The Good Stepmother by Marguerita Rudolph and illustrated by Darcy May.

It is a retelling of an old Russian folktale about a motherless Princess Elena who persuades her father to let her choose the woman that he marries.  She devises a contest for all the would-be Queens to make themselves a wedding gown, but the real test is whether or not they notice the tiny bandage that Elena wraps around her finger.  Whoever displays such sensitivity and compassion, she reasons, is sure to be a good and kind mother. 

An astute little princess!  For surely goodness is what we all seek in our lives and in our stories. 

“As is a tale, so is life, not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”  Seneca

This month is a time when we celebrate Mothers, but not just biological mothers - we know that MOTHER is not just a noun, it is also a verb and so anyone of us who brings to birth goodness in the world, or MOTHERS the goodness in a little one, is worthy of the title MOTHER.

Here’s to all those who MOTHER goodness in the world! 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Hoping in YOURSELF

As this month's theme is HOPE, I think it is worth re-visiting one of my own books -

 RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER,

because it is about a very important aspect of HOPE and that is 

HOW TO HOPE IN YOURSELF

The idea for this story, stemmed in part, from this image below that I came across in a greeting card some years ago (except my cat saw himself as a tiger instead of a lion). 

T

 But the dollop of hope is the same - we all have an inner greatness, an inner tiger, or an inner lion, that cannot be seen with the naked eye.  Stories are in a way, mirrors, that allow children to see and believe in their own inner greatness.  For when they see story characters overcoming obstacles and taming their demons by summoning their inner courage and strength, then they have a model - a vision for how they too can overcome such hurdles in their own lives.

Happy HOPING!

HOW WE HOPE

HOW WE HOPE...

According to Jane Yolen, the two most important ingredients of a good children's book are - JOY and HOPE.  

This month's read aloud is Mole Music by David McPhail, one of my favorite HOPE filled stories ever.  I share it with people of all ages to mark special milestones in life, or to spread a dollop of hope when needed.

Hope is not always a feeling - just like love, but rather, often it is simply something we do until we can feel it.   Good children's stories  can provide beautiful models of hope for our little ones, letting them believe in their own goodness and grace and light - letting them see HOW to HOPE.

MOLE is the perfect embodiment of a tenacious soul who refuses to give up and simply 'keeps at it."

When we teach our children to hope, we are helping them to "keep at it" - that is keep at this business of LIFE - of living and loving with all our might - and who knows, just like MOLE, they too  may learn to "make music" that reaches into people's hearts and melts away the anger and the sadness!

Happy HOPING!

Land of Saints and Scholars 2

And now for....THE SCHOLARS!

Jonathan Swift -1667 -1745

Remember Gulliver's Travels?

W,B. Yeats 1865-1939

How I love his poems, Lake Isle of Innisfree and The Stolen Child!

Oscar Wilde - 1854-1900

He wrote my favorite giant story ever- The Selfish Giant.

C.S. Lewis - 1898-1963

Thank you, Mr. Lewis, for the wonder of Narnia and Aslan!

Seamus Heaney -1939-2013

The beloved Nobel Laureate whose last words were
"Noli Timere" (Latin for Do not be afraid!) - which is really what all great stories tell us - that GOOD will triumph - and so, we do not need to fear!

And we have St. Patrick to thank for all these learned and beloved Irish scholars!

Girl Scout Troop #2732

What a wonderful welcome Girl Scout Troop #2732 of Centennial gave me this week.

We read The Giant King and talked about our Writers' Roots - what they are and how to feed them.

We talked about my two "Muses," who are....

My two Goldens, of course - Isla and Fergus

These clever girls even knew who the nine Greek Muses were!

They asked me, "Is Nessie real?"

  

Yes, or so all good Scots will tell you!  So impressed that these clever girls knew where Nessie lived - in Loch Ness of course.

We talked about how "reading aloud can cure pretty much everything from warts to global warming," as Mem Fox tells us, because reading aloud GOOD stories feeds our hearts, making them bigger and better and bolder!

We talked about the importance of learning poems "by heart."  I was "heartened" to see that all these girl scouts were reciting all kinds of little chants and ditties before their meeting began - they already know the value of LEARNING BY HEART!

Gorgeous Gaggle of Girls

Thank you Girl Scout Troop #2732
"Burn Bright!"

Land of Saints and Scholars

As those of you who read this month's read aloud, St. Patrick and the Peddler, found out, Ireland is also known as "The Land of Saints and Scholars."

Here's why ...

St. Brigid - Patron saint of Ireland, poets, babies, midwives, and blacksmiths - Feast Day  - February 1st

St. Brendan - Patron Saint of boatmen, sailors, travelers, and whales - Feast Day - May 16

St. Ita - Teacher of St. Brendan - Feast Day - January 15

St. Kevin - Patron Saint of Blackbirds - Feast day - June 3rd