One of my favorite genres is memoir. I love hearing about the struggles and insights of different authors. A few years ago, I read Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco. I was shocked by her lifelong battle with bullying and how she has turned it around for the good. In fact, she travels across the country to speak schools, businesses, and organizations to express the importance of kindness. She has reached many people of all ages that struggle with bullying. Her story is pretty incredible.
Currently, I am reading Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor. Originally, I gravitated towards this book because the author is an English teacher, but I have been surprised by her whit and rawness. She lost her husband in a freak accident while she was 6 months pregnant. The range of emotions is vast and, in some ways, overwhelming. She makes connections with characters from novels and famous authors. Honestly, her insights are spot on. I realized the other day that we read because of these connections. We search for ourselves in the characters. We like people that are like us. I realize that Natalie and I are not going through the same situations, but I sympathize with her.
In one chapter, she relates herself to Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. As you may know, this is my favorite novel, so I was highly interested in her thoughts. Gatsby tries to recreate the past. He fell in love with Daisy years before, and as he tries to win her back, he forgets that time has changed people. Time does not go in reverse. Natalie mentions "the past, present, and future can never collide." As she grieves the loss of her husband, it is hard to not want to live in the past and fear the future. This is something we can all relate to. There are times in the past that I want to relive. Maybe it's because they were great memories, but also because I would like to do them over. Obviously, this is a waste of time and energy. We will never live in the past; we will only live in the present.
Are you rowing into the current?
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