Books that I love….

Do you ever get the feeling that books are your friends? I do. All my life I have felt books were my entertainment, my escape to far away lands, and most of all, my guides. My friends. Certain books seemed to literally jump out at me in a book shop, off the shelf and into my hands. Others were given to me by friends just when I needed them. Or if I didn’t need them at the moment, I found that months or years later that book was now the most relevant book I needed to read. The teacher comes when we are ready.

The Art of Silence by Amber Hatch is one of those books. I read about her in the British publication of Happiness Magazine and was taken with her words…

“The notion of silence can help us redress the balance of this crazy, chaotic world that we live in. It can give us the space we need to allow our bodies and minds to relax so that we can become the healthy, wholesome individuals we want to be. Silence is a strategy for living.”

Crazy, chaotic world is right! I needed this book and found it very grounding and inspiring. Amber has little exercises at the end of each chapter that made me think and focus on what was really important right now, in this present moment. The notion that we need space for silence really resonates with me.

And then there’s is Mary Oliver. All of her work is profound, but as you can tell by the dog eared cover, this, A Thousand Mornings, is one of my favorite books. It’s a small volume, only 77 pages, with selected poems from her other books. Ms. Oliver’s poems are stories that open my mind to a new way of looking at things. They must be read in a quiet surrounding with enough room left after the reading for contemplation. Poetry needs time to travel from the brain to the heart, although occasionally it zooms to the heart a rocketship speed.. From the poem Today on page 23:

“I’m taking the day off. Quiet as a feather. I hardly move though really I’m traveling a terrific distance. Stillness. One of the doors into the temple.”

And then there is the book , The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. I just received this as a gift and, oh my, I am in love with this book, the story and the illustrations. The whole world needs this book right now. It’s the charming and profound story of four friends that meet and answer the Boy’s questions about life. The illustrations captured my heart, they are simple but full of action and emotion. Elizabeth Gilbert said, “The world that I am required to inhabit is this one. But the world that I long to inhabit is the one that Charlie Mackesy has created.” I couldn’t agree more. I’ll read this book over and over again, letting each page open to where I need the message the most, all the while remembering the dear friend that gifted this book to me.