My mother
lost her third child a few days after she was born. Unfortunately, the sister I
never had the chance to meet passed away due to a glitch at the hospital. There
was no logical reason to explain her death other than the fact that every
member of the medical staff dropped the ball. At the time I was old enough to
know something horrible had happened, and that our family would never be the
same. The reason I mention this most personal of all experiences is that a
close family friend, someone who turned out to be one of my closest advisors
through life, gave my mother a book in order to help her cope with her loss.
That book was Anne Morrow Lindbergh's GIFT FROM THE SEA.
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| Rainer Maria Rilke |
Years later I was going through the
bookshelves in our den looking for something to read and found it. A GIFT FROM
THE SEA is extremely thought provoking, and with the modern world stuck in a
digital abyss and beginning to leave its humanity behind, probably more
relevant now than the year it was written. It's filled with Lindbergh's
thoughts and feelings and search for inner peace. After I read the last page
and thought it over, I realized that she had given me an extra special gift.
She had introduced me to Rainer Maria Rilke's LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET, which is
quoted throughout the book.
If reading or writing
or any combination of the two makes your day, then LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET is a
must read. The book is comprised of ten letters
Rilke wrote to a young man who wanted to make a life in the arts. I don't have
to be a fortuneteller to say that this is one of the best books you will ever
read in your life. And if you're a writer, your work is about to take a giant
step forward.
All best,
Robert
