When are you happiest? I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately and find that my happiest moments generally centre around peace, quiet and calm. For example, basking in the mid-afternoon Sunday sunshine with a cup of tea, plate of biscuits and reading a good book. Either that, or writing one…
Anyway, this realisation gave me the idea to write Storytelling Sundays, a weekly article to bring the essence of this energy to your inbox. And, with every week, we’ll discuss the restorative powers of a different story...
Today I wanted one to celebrate spring and to choose it I went walking in the cemetery. With the breeze in my hair, the sun on my back and the profusion of flowers all about me, I thought of A Room With a View (E.M.Forster, 1908).
I first read this novel at 18 and it left a lasting impression on both my writing and my life. Of course, I remembered the epic kiss - between the heroine and the courageous poet - among the violets, but what stayed with me most of all was the transformation of the protagonist, Lucy.
“Light and beauty enveloped her. She had fallen onto a little open terrace, which was covered with violets from end to end. ‘Courage!’ cried her companion. ‘Courage and love!'
Lucy was me. She had a musician’s heart - while I had a writer’s - but we were both bursting with the desire to devour life and art, while also being dominated by minds that worried what others would think if we overthrew convention and gave into those passions. The same paradox threatened to tear us apart: I longed to give up my sensible life and dedicate myself to writing but I feared everyone thinking I was a failure and a fool.
And so, when Lucy played Beethoven and Mr Beebe commented: “If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting both for us and for her,”
I took heart. This, I thought, this is what I must do! And so, I gave up my sensible life, threw caution to the wind, married my own poet and became a waitress and a writer.
Of course I, like Lucy, continually struggle with my fears - and will so long as my mind (& other well-meaning people) keep telling me I’m foolish - so I turn to stories that remind me to defy the dictates of society and live with courage and passion.
So, on this beautiful Sunday, I ask: if you didn’t care about being a failure and a fool, what would you do with your one wild and precious life*? Perhaps you do not know, or perhaps the answer is ever-changing. Perhaps you’ve spend so long ignoring your heart that it no longer speaks to you. In which case, I offer the advice of Mr Emerson (father of the courageous poet):
“Let yourself go. Pull out from the depths those thoughts that you do not understand, and spread them out in the sunlight and know the meaning of them.”
Stories can provide answers, as can long walks and seeking wise counsel. Meanwhile, make the most of the remainder of this un-repeatable day of your one wild and precious life: “Choose a place and stand in it for all you’re worth, facing the sunshine.” Be the sunshine real, or metaphorical, I hope you can find a pocket of peace and calm today to relax and enjoy it…
As asked by the beautiful poet, Mary Oliver. I HIGHLY recommend her book of essays, Upstream. Especially the essay On Power & Time.
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