Books that remind you of places you've visited

Whimsical Work - art journal page spread
collage and zentangle

Very often I've read a book because of its setting in a far off place - think Paris, Tuscany, London, Thailand, etc - hoping one day that I may get to travel there myself.  I've also read books because of places I've been like Mystic, CT the setting for Mystic Summer. But I chose Shelley Noble's the beach at painter's cove  because it reminded me of a place I once visited - the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT.

Noble has set her characters in a fictitious coastal Connecticut town, inhabiting a mansion called Muses by the Sea, which during its well-known history had served as an artists' haven. With just this description on the back cover of the book I was instantly reminded of the visit my husband and I made to Old Lyme. Just before the turn of the twentieth century, Henry Ward Ranger, a New York artist, having just returned from Europe filled with new ideas, ventured out on the train and found himself in Old Lyme. Taken with the town, he booked lodgings at Florence Griswold's boarding house. Of course he told all his friends about the place and before Florence knew it, her house was filled to the brim with artists. Then again the whole town was soon filled with artists who were pursuing Ranger's "tonal" landscape school of painting or Childe Hassam's new American Impressionism. No matter which style you favored you may be found working "en plein air" rather than in the studio. At night there were rich discussions over drinks, card games, or sing alongs around the boarding house's piano.

Noble's Muses by the Sea was another cauldron for creativity. There not only artists were welcomed but also writers and actors. It was most certainly a different atmosphere during the sixties and seventies when New Yorkers came to party it up with the hint of scandalous shenanigans. But like all things life moved on and the Muses fell into disrepair when the artists left. Now the Whitaker family must find a way to save their home and the artwork that it contains. You can begin to see the parallels between fact and fiction that sparked Noble's imagination and my own while I read. I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions as to how the story will end.

The Gift of Anger

Five Pillars of Nonviolence -
art journal collage

As a child I loved visiting with my grandparents. It wasn't until I had children of my own that in watching my parents grandparent that I saw a different side of them. Our grandparents are in a different position to teach us things that our parents cannot, perhaps we are just more open to them.

Arun Gandhi had the rare opportunity to spend two years of his early adolescence at the ashram run by his famous grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi. In his memoir, The Gift of Anger, he recounts the many lessons he learned from his dear Bapuji. Through telling his story, Gandhi helps us today to see how his grandfather's belief in non-violent actions could bring about the change that we want to see in our world - to bring about peace.

The vital lessons about life were codified in these principles: respect, understanding, acceptance, appreciation, and compassion. Arun's grandfather stressed the need to live life simply and to try to be better than the day before. He wasn't saying that we have to be perfect but to live our lives with out squandering any part of our day. We spend so much time trying to obtain status or wealth that we lose sight of those things that are most precious - those we love. As parents we get very wrapped up in the day to day challenges of earning a living, doing the housework, commuting, paying the bills, etc. that we can be worn out with little left for our children. And that is the beauty of grandparents - they have that time to spend with their grandchildren. No matter how busy Mahatma Gandhi was with the affairs of state, he would put those things aside when Arun required his attention. We all must remember to do that for whoever seeks to connect with us whether it is our children, our spouses, our parents, our friends for we never know how much time we will have with them. Sadly, shortly after Arun left the ashram to return to his home, his grandfather was assassinated. It is a blessing for us all that his lessons live on to help us all to be more mindful as we strive to live our lives to the best of our abilities.

Agatha Christie meets Stand-up Comedy - Ten Dead Comedians

Drawn to Fred Van Lente's Ten Dead Comedians by the book flap's nod to the homage paid to Agatha Christie's (one of my all time favorite authors) And Then There Were None, I gladly checked it out of the library. It was a quick fun read, but when I sat down this morning to think about the messages within Van Lente's and Christie's work, I was struck by the very dark under tones in each.

Like much of her work, Christie focused on justice and whether or not it may be attained within the legal system of the time. In her novel, she focuses on ten characters who have managed to get away with murder. Playing to either their vanity or needs, the executioner of justice has lured them to a secluded island where they are systematically executed according to the manner of death laid out in a nursery rhyme about either ten little indians or ten little soldiers (see printing dates and countries). Those who have committed the graver crimes have longer to live, but suffer the greater amount of psychological terror as they await their turn.

Contrast that with Van Lente's book where the ten characters, who are stand-up comedians, are collected because of their crimes against comedy when in reality (SPOILER ALERT) they are crimes against one particular comedian - their supposed host. Instead of seeking justice the killer wants revenge for being made the butt of their jokes.

And that's where my thoughts changed from fun mystery read to dark everyday reality. It is not uncommon for comedians and other celebrities to stand up in front of an audience or members of the media and put down others in their industry. Is that the price celebrities pay to be in the spot light? Are they all capable of taking the words they hear and brushing them off with no harm to their souls? They're grownups after all aren't they?

When is a joke bullying? Think about how often you or someone else has followed up a remark with "I was just kidding." Once those words are out it's to late to follow them up with a disclaimer that we didn't really mean it? If we didn't mean it, why'd we say it in the first place? We are all guilty of this crime.

Bear with me here as I make a big leap. As a school teacher, I have heard the remarks of students against other students and their back pedaling when they are called out by teachers or others. How is Van Lente's killer any different than those bullied students who take their revenge out by committing a school shooting? The comedian's crimes were verbal slights, but can be nothing compared to the physical, emotional, and psychological damage that happens to children in our schools and on social media sites. Everyday in my classroom I need to be vigilant for the signs of bullying - the withdrawal, the decline in grades, the failure to maintain personal hygiene, the loss or gain of weight, the use of alcohol or drugs, and the unthinkable - signs of self harm. Some bullied students lash out against their bullies, but more often they turn their rage internally and decide to make the bullying stop by committing suicide.

Let's all remember to take a moment to think about our joke telling - is it really a joke or will somebody end up hurting?

Reawaken, repair, and renew - Rise and Shine Benedict Stone

Awakening Stones - art journal page
collage

Sometimes we find ourselves weighted down by the burdens of life, or even the secrets that we hold within our hearts. Our hearts themselves may feel like they have been turned to stone. Benedict Stone, the title character of Phaedra Patrick's newest novel, is such a man. Benedict is a man who is currently separated from his wife, scarcely eking out a living with his small jewelry shop having lost his creative spark years ago, when the sixteen year old daughter of his estranged brother shows up on his doorstep. 

Gemma has secrets and burdens of her own. Like all teenagers, she is struggling to finding her own place and passion within the world. She has traveled to England from the US in search of answers. Her hope is to learn more about the bag of gemstones her father received from his dead parents, and why he hasn't invited her uncle to be a part of their lives. 

It's Gemma that spurs Benedict to face his past, beginning with opening the trunk in the attic containing his parents' gemstone journal, tools, designs, and some of his own early work. Together they read the journal passages, written by Gemma's grandfather, about gemstone properties, "Peridot - A rich green stone, sometimes called chrysolite, peridot is widely known as the birthstone for August. It can be found in volcanic landscapes. It was used in ancient times to ward off evil spirits. It can assist us to recognize negative patterns in our lives, override unwanted thought patterns, help let go of the past and ease fear and anxiety. It can lessen stress, anger, and jealousy in relationships, and also help us to find what is lost.." (p.76-77) Before long they are dispensing gemstones to the members of the village based on their needs. Benedict finds himself inspired to work on new designs which renews his creativity and even gives him the confidence to fight for his marriage. But those hidden secrets come back to bite them in the butt. I'll let you read the outcome. 

Family secrets are painful and soul destroying. What we hide from our spouses, our children, our parents, or our siblings breeds distrust and fear and nothing good can come of it. There are even our failed attempts to hide our own secrets from ourselves allowing our souls to slowly wither, ruining our relationships, stymying our creativity, and preventing us from living our lives fully. 

I chose the peridot quote above since it is my birthstone, but also because of the properties that Patrick ascribed to it (see her author's note). Right now in my life I am working to overcome the old negative thought patterns, based on old family issues, that I have allowed to hold me back. We can find ourselves trapped in negative or fearful thought patterns and it seems we can't out run them. I now know that there is a way out. It takes courage and hard work to make changes that bring you to a new place in life. After ten years at a very stressful job, I prayed for a solution and it came in the form of a new job. Now I'm battling the anxiety that comes with starting all over, but it's been a good thing and I am so grateful to be able to renew my life, find ways to express my own creativity, and to repair the damage to my soul. This whole summer has been about finding my voice and using it.