So with all of my new found free time and energy I have been devouring books. I finally got a library card in GA and picked up a few books I have been wanting to read. Yesterday I read The Faithful Gardener, A Wise Tale About That Which Can Never Die written by Clarrissa Pinkola Estes. I had heard her speak on a podcast called Sounds True. (She is the author of Women Who Run With Wolves. Next on my list to read.) In the podcast she was talking about her journey in writing The Dangerous Old Woman. I really recommend listening to this podcast. She is a wonderful story teller and draws you in with lots of colorful imagery. It is a two part podcast and I have linked to the first part above so here is the second half. Any way back to the The Faithful Gardener it is a short book that tells the story of her uncle. A man who is a Hungarian refuge after the war. Estes' is a master story teller. She weaves a magical quality into every description and a mystical reverence for the stories that impart us with ancient wisdom.
A few lines I loved from the book:
"New seed is faithful. It roots deepest in the places that are most empty."
"Like gypsies, when the caravan begins to sway forward, even though one is leaving one place known, for another place unknown, no one is ever sad."
"Refuse to fall down.
If you cannot refuse to fall down,
refuse to stay down.
If you cannot refuse to stay down,
lift your heart toward heaven,
and like a hungry beggar,
ask that it be filled,
and it will be filled.
You may be pushed down.
You may be kept from rising.
But no one can keep you
from lifting your heart
toward heaven-
only you.
It is in the middle of misery
that so much becomes clear.
The one who says nothing good
came of this,
is not yet listening."
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