Gifts from the Sea

I picked up Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book A Gift from the Sea and read the first two chapters on the way home from Ichthus this afternoon. In the book, she bases each chapter on a different kind of shell.

The book was written in 1955. She was a housewife and a writer and was spending a few weeks on an island off the Gulf Coast of Florida. I think that this might be a book more suited for a Type-A personality -- I am not Type-A.

Looking at the first two chapters:

• She talks about simplicity in life in the first chapter. I could definitely learn more about simplicity in life. I could use some motivation to de-clutter my life. We have too much "stuff" and no where to put it.
• The second chapter is about solitude and how women don't value the need for solitude and its role in recharging our lives. Not me -- I know the value of solitude, and I am selfish enough to demand it in my life -- to make it a priority. I need time to be away from my kids. It is a vital commodity for me to be able to be a good mom to them. I get grouchy and impatient with them if I can't be away from them for a time. I refuse to feel guilty about it, and I will make time for it.

So one out of two chapters which apply isn't bad.