What Is Your Muse?

What is your muse? We are all compelled by something. It may be great books, art, design, fashion, film, history, an influential personality, great writer, artist, or entrepreneur. Charlotte Moss writes in her new book Garden Inspirations that the garden is her greatest muse. She brings it into her life wherever she can. The garden informs and enriches her surroundings. It influences her aesthetic as a decorator. She is inspired by the great women gardeners throughout history: Vita Sackville-West, Edith Wharton and Beatrix Farrand, to name a few. To read her beautiful new book is to learn how one's woman passion has affected her entire life.

I began to think about mine. I have always believed that a place can be a muse and there is no question that I have a love affair with England. Its writers, artists, history, castles, cathedrals, great houses and landscape have inspired me since I was in college and spent six years reading English novels and poetry. Those books became part of me. They affected my entire life and inspired my love of great books and excellent writing. It is a passion that continues today.

I remember my first trip to England and visiting the places that filled my imagination. I saw the landscapes, the gardens, the little villages, the pubs, the monuments, the pageantry and the historic sites I had been reading about for years. I had a proper English tea, the kind that seemed to occur in all my favorite novels. I discovered London, the setting for so many of my favorite books and it was a revelation. A modern bustling city with beautiful parks and green spaces and a thousand-year old history lurking around every corner if you took the time to look. And there was the glorious countryside. Right out of a novel by Thomas Hardy or a poem by William Wordsworth. My goal was to walk on country lanes, have tea and scones, poke around little villages, and read in rustic settings just as all of my favorite heroines had done. On that first trip I made a special point of visiting as many writers' houses as I could. Seeing the objects that surrounded them was thrilling.

Over the years I have brought home many memories and souvenirs from my trips to England. Even on my very first trip, when I was living on $5.00 a day, I was collecting post cards from my favorite museums. I went to Fortnum and Mason and bought two cups and saucers by Wedgewood, little realizing this was the beginning of a china obsession. And then there were the books. I discovered bookstores like Hatchards, a heavenly place for any book lover. I didn't mind buying new editions of books I already had since the cover art was so different and often more beautiful. I still go to Hatchards, Heywood Hill, John Sandoe and Persephone Books on each and every trip and browse in utter contentment.

When my husband and I traveled together to England for the first time we stumbled upon a book fair in London. Bloomsbury was already a passion of mine and I was thrilled to find a little book of poetry by E.M. Forster that had been published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf. It was my first Hogarth Press book. When we traveled to Lewes in Sussex to look for Virginia Woolf's house, we wandered into a little gallery where we found a drawing by Duncan Grant. Those two purchases were so exciting. And so it began... books fill our bookcases, images of favorite writers decorate my study, and art hangs on our walls. Tea pots, cups and saucers peek out of the cabinets in the kitchen. All memories and reminders of a love of England.

But the greatest reward I gained from all that reading and those visits to England was a love of the written word. Books are my passion. Over the years I've discovered many writers to add to my list of favorites: Nancy Mitford, E.F. Benson, Barbara Pym, Jane Gardam, E.M. Delafield, Angela Thirkell, Elizabeth Taylor and Isabel Colegate, just to name a few. They inspire me with their words and stories and motivate me to write something of my own. Great art can inspire personal dreams. That's the thing about a muse -- if you keep an open mind, it will lead you towards creative fulfillment.

 I would love to know what is your muse?
And, are you an Anglophile?

Beginnings

Do you ever wonder about the beginning of a writing career, such as that of the brilliant writer Charlotte Bronte? Most of us would assume that she had unimaginable hurdles because of the time and place in which she wrote. And that was true. She lived in the nineteenth-century when women were generally not published authors. She grew up in the remote depths of Yorkshire, England in a parsonage with her clergyman father Patrick Bronte and her three brilliant and troubled siblings Emily, Anne and Branwell. Their lives were filled with tragedy. All of them died young: Anne at 29, Emily at 30, and Branwell at 31. Charlotte herself died at 38, just two months after getting married. And yet she and her sisters wrote classic novels that will live forever.

This past weekend was cold and rainy here in Los Angeles and I spent some quiet time browsing through my bookshelves. I love doing this because either I get reacquainted with some old friends or discover some new ones. In this case the book I took down was one I had bought many years ago but had never given much attention to. There was a time when I bought everything I could find on the Bronte family and consequently have a pretty big collection of books about them. I especially loved Juliet Barker's biography from 1994 which was reissued a couple of years ago. (Go here to read more.) The book that caught my eye over the weekend was The World Within, The Brontes at Haworth by Juliet Gardiner, published in 1992. It is filled with letters, diaries and writings by the Brontes. Dipping into it, I was reminded of the challenging beginnings of one of the most brilliant and short writing careers, that of Charlotte Bronte. I came upon some fascinating quotes by Charlotte and others about the beginning of her career and the difficulty of getting published. Here are a few of the most revealing:

Charlotte wrote:

"We had very early cherished the dream of one day becoming authors. This dream, never relinquished even when distance divided and absorbing tasks occupied us, now suddenly acquired strength and consistence: it took the character of a resolve. We agreed to arrange a small selection of our poems, and, if possible, get them printed."

After much trouble finding a publisher, the sisters finally found one that would take them on and the poems were published at the end of May, 1846. The title page read:  "Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell." Charlotte wrote:

"Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell: the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because, without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine' -- we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice..."

The poems were not a great success. Out of an initial run of 1,000 copies, only two were sold. But the sisters weren't discouraged. They were each writing a novel and Charlotte had written to their publisher to consider taking that on as well.  Either as a work of three volumes, or separately as single volumes. The books were The Professor by Charlotte, Agnes Grey by Anne and Wuthering Heights by Emily. Their publisher declined and was one of several who missed out on publishing one of the most famous works in English literature.

Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey were eventually accepted by a publisher, though The Professor was not. Fortunately Charlotte had another book in waiting and it was Jane Eyre. She finished it while taking care of her father who was recovering from cataract surgery. She sent the manuscript off to Smith, Elder & Co. on August 24, 1847. George Smith was so captivated by it that he read it in one sitting, canceling all appointments for the day and refusing to go to bed until he had finished. Six weeks later on October 16, 1847, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography was published. It was an instant success.

William Makepeace Thackeray, upon finishing it, wrote to the publisher George Smith:

"I wish you had not sent me 'Jane Eyre.' It interested me so much that I have lost...a whole day in reading it at the busiest period with the printers wailing for copy. Who the author can be I can't guess, if a woman she knows her language better than most ladies do, or has had a classical education. It is a fine book...some of the love passages made me cry, to the astonishment of John, who came in with the coals...I don't know why I tell you this but I have been exceedingly moved and pleased by 'Jane Eyre.' It is a woman's writing, but whose? Give my respects and thanks to the author, whose novel is the first English one...that I've been able to read for many a day." 

A reviewer for one of the biggest British magazines called it:

"One of the most powerful domestic romances which has been published for many years...it is full of youthful vigor, of freshness and originality, of nervous diction and concentrated interest...It is a book to make the pulses gallop and the heart beat, and to fill the eyes with tears."

The 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre 

For a long time Charlotte's family and friends had no idea that she was the writer of Jane Eyre. Her brother died without ever knowing that his sisters had published any writing. It was a while before she told even her closest friend Ellen Nussey. But it was not until January, 1848 when Charlotte saw an elderly gentlemen reading Jane Eyre at Haworth that she decided to tell her father. Her biographer Mrs. Gaskell tells the story:

"She (Charlotte) informed me that something like the following conversation took place between her and him (I wrote down her words the day after I heard them; and I am pretty sure they are quite accurate).

'Papa, I've been writing a book.'
'Have you, my dear?'
'Yes, and I want you to read it.'
'I am afraid it will try my eyes too much.'
'But it is not a manuscript; it is printed.'
'My dear! you've never thought of the expense it will be! It will be almost sure to be a loss, for how can you get a book sold? No one knows your name.'
'But, papa, I don't think it will be a loss, nor will you if you will just let me read you a review or two, and let me tell you more about it.'
So she sat down and read some of the reviews to her father; and then, giving him a copy of 'Jane Eyre' that she intended for him, she left him to read it. When he came in to tea, he said, 'Girls, do you know that Charlotte has been writing a book, and it is much better than likely?'"

 I think that it's time for a rereading of Jane Eyre. I would love to know if this is one of  your favorites. And have you read any other books by Charlotte Bronte?

What Book is on Your Nightstand?

The new year has arrived and one of my goals for 2015 is to make more time for reading and writing. One of the best sources for book suggestions, as well as literary inspiration, is the The New York Times Book Review. Do you read it every Sunday? Well, if you do then you probably read the column By the Book. Each week a writer is interviewed and asked questions about literature and the literary life.

I love reading the answers to questions such as: What book is on your nightstand? What book made you want to write? If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What is your favorite literary genre? How do you organize your personal library? What books do you find yourself returning to again and again?  

I can't tell you how many times I've torn out this section of the Book Review to save for future use. It is filled with great book recommendations as well as illuminating insights into the writer's life. For example, I read Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield after Sylvia Nasar recommended it as one of her favorite comic novels. And she was right! I read Goerge Eliot's Middlemarch after Anna Quindlen called it her favorite book of all time. And I agreed with her that it is truly a great book. I loved J.K. Rowling's answer to the question: If you could be any character from literature, who would it be? She answered "Elizabeth Bennett, naturally." I felt as if I knew her a little bit better and we were kindred spirits. No matter what the topic, I am always inspired by the passion that these writers have for books.

 I was swept away by John Irving's answer to the question "What book changed your life?"

"Great Expectations. I was fifteen. It made me want to be able to write a novel like that. It was very visual -- I saw everything, exactly -- and the characters were more vivid than any I had heretofore met on the page. I had only met characters like that onstage, and not just in any play -- mainly in Shakespeare. Fully rendered characters, but also mysterious. I loved the secrets in Dickens -- the contrasting foreshadowing, but not of everything.You both saw what was coming and you didn't. Hardy had that effect on me, too, but when I was older. And Melville, but also when I was older."

His answer made sense and its infectious enthusiasm about great writing made me want to sit down immediately and try to write a novel! 

In a stroke of genius, the editor of this column decided to collect 65 of the best interviews and publish them together in a book that is aptly named By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review. I got it for Christmas and have spent the last week happily browsing its pages. It was fun to ask myself some of these questions. Here are three which were easy to answer:

1. What book is on your nightstand?

There are three right now: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, Summer in February by Jonathan Smith, and The Ambassadors by Henry James

2. What is your favorite book of all time?

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

3. Are you a rereader? What books do you find yourself returning to?

Yes, I am a rereader. The three books I find myself returning to again and again are Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, Howards End by E.M. Forster, and The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. These books never fail to take me to that cozy place I sometimes crave and always make me feel good.

 I would love to know your answers to these questions.

If you are a passionate reader and an aspiring writer, get this book. You will love it!

Books and Gardens

I have a copy of a wonderful and unique little book called The Writer's Life. It's one of those books you can dip into from time to time and read some fascinating insights by the world's greatest writers on the topic of writing. Have you seen this little gem? If you love books and are an aspiring writer (those two often go together!), you will love this one.

Here are a few samples --

"Here in the few minutes that remain, I must record, heaven be praised, the end of The Waves. I wrote the words O Death fifteen minutes ago, having reeled across the last ten pages with some moments of such intensity that I seemed only to stumble after my own voice...and I have been sitting these fifteen minutes in a state of glory, and calm, and some tears...How physical the sense of triumph and relief is! Whether good or bad it's done."
-- Virginia Woolf

"I have written practically nothing yet, and now again the time is short. There is nothing done. I am no  nearer my achievement than I was two months ago, and I keep half-doubting my will to perform anything. Each time I make a move my demon says at almost the same moment: 'Oh, yes, we've heard that before.'"
-- Katherine Mansfield

"A good rule for writers: do not explain overmuch."
-- Somerset Maugham

"The business of the poet and novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the greatest things, and the grandness underlying the sorriest things."
-- Thomas Hardy

"If you ever write something, and it is reviewed, and the review includes a photo of you, and both the photo and review are bad, you will find that the photo is the more painful."
-- Diane Johnson

"Novel, beginning one: any subterfuge seems preferable..."
-- E.M. Forster

"I am going to write because I cannot help it."
-- Charlotte Bronte

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I am taking a couple of weeks off to work on a new project, catch up on my reading, spend some time in the garden, and relax with my family. I hope you enjoy this beautiful month of June. I will be back in July, inspired and refreshed, with lots to share. See you then!

xo/ Sunday

Writers on Writing

It has been a couple of months since the winter holidays and life seems to have finally calmed down enough for many of us to get back to some serious reading. I have been happily immersed in some very good books. I finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ( which I loved -- more on that later), reread Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and am now almost finished with The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. This book begins at a summer camp in 1974 and follows six teenagers who remain friends over the next forty years. It is about the moment in life when we meet "our people," the ones we admire and want to be like. It explores the topic of friendship and how it is affected when some of the friends reach a startling level of success and the others do not. This book is excellent and I can't wait to talk about it with my book club on Wednesday night.

In the meantime, I was able to go to a literary event to hear Meg Wolitzer speak. She talked a bit about  "The Interestings," but mostly she talked about the writer's life. It was such a wonderful and inspiring talk. Meg Wolitzer happens to be very funny and very smart. Her topic? The creative life of the writer. She was so encouraging to the aspiring writers in the audience. And I think there were many. Because I do believe that in every passionate reader beats the heart of an aspiring writer. We were all ears. Here are some of the highlights of what she said:

She told us she feels so fortunate to make her living as a writer. Writing can seem a bit like an illegitimate life. I have heard other writers say this as well. She grew up in a house filled with books and a mother who was a writer. Her mother's first short story was published in the Saturday Evening Post and Meg reflected about a time when women's magazines were literary.

She talked about what a writer is doing when he or she writes a novel. A novelist is creating an entire world. And that world can be very different from the one that he or she inhabits. It has to be believable. A sense of story is very important for any writer since story is how we all make sense of what happens to us. A narrative gives experience shape and form. We tell about what we see, we shape it, and inevitably we change it in some way. And people seem to respond well if they think the story is true. She asked how writers can be important in this new post 9/11 world. That event created a lot of anxiety in people and a need to make sense of the world. Anxiety creates a need to know and to learn about people who live differently from us. It creates a culture of empathy. This is where the novelist comes in.

She recounted some advice she received from the writer Mary Gordon: Write about what is important to you, what you care about, what preoccupies you, what obsesses you. The books we love are about the things the writer cares about.

She went on to say that the book you write should be about a way of being in the world. The reader should not have to ask "why are you telling me this?" And then she talked about that pesky issue of a writer's voice. Establishing a voice is very important. Think of "voice" as a particular feeling that shines from a friend. Books need this. A novel is a concentrated version of who the writer is; it is a version of that person, but even more so. Meg Wolitzer knows she is humorous by nature and so she keeps humor in her books. Put your sensibility into a book; that is what makes it special.

When she talked about her characters, she talked about the idea of one thing contrasting with another. She said that "Middlemarch" does this very well. The contrast makes the other thing stand out. People are complex. For example, although some people may see a person as funny, that person may see himself as melancholy. Her advice was to keep it all in in your book.

I think most of us left Meg Wolitzer's talk feeling enlightened about her book and also inspired creatively. This doesn't happen all the time, but when it does there is magic in the air. It reminded me of hearing Helen Simonson speak about Major Pettigrew's Last Stand a couple of years ago (read more here). Like Meg Wolitzer she was smart, funny, and inspiring. I remember feeling very motivated to push myself creatively.

By the way, I loved "The Goldfinch." I believe it is one of the best books written in recent years. Apropos of what Meg Wolitzer said about the novelist creating an entire world, Donna Tartt has done this so well. And it is a world with so many layers. I am not surprised that it took her ten years to write. There were passages that moved me to tears, startling and breathtaking events that I never saw coming, and beautiful sections about life and art. I wrote about the book's Dickensian qualities here. Not surprisingly, it is going to be made into a film. I wonder if it is possible to capture this kind of a book in a film. Maybe a mini-series would be better. What do you think?

Please tell me what you are reading right now. And I would love to know if you liked "The Goldfinch." 

"Someone" by Alice McDermott

If you are looking for a book to remind you of the pleasures of great writing, look no further than Someone: A Novel by Alice McDermott.

There are books that announce themselves with dramatic fanfare. From the opening pages the reader is drawn into life-changing events and the characters' reactions to those events. These books are hard to put down and keep us on the edge of our seat. Other books present themselves more quietly and draw us into the world of an ordinary life, slowly revealing ideas and themes. They gently show how the characters deal with circumstances and events. Rather than being focused on big plots and action- packed stories, they tell a tale of a human life. In fact, they tell what it feels like to be human. In this vein of literature, I can think of Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and Barbara Pym. After reading the new and incandescent novel "Someone," I would add Alice McDermott to that group.

The "story of an unremarkable woman's unforgettable life" is how the publisher describes Alice McDermott's novel on the dust jacket. And it is a perfect description. Like the characters in a Barbara Pym book, the central character and narrator Marie is not someone you would necessarily notice walking on the street. Her looks are plain, she wears thick glasses and her clothes are unremarkable. Her weak vision is a problem she will deal with her entire life. The events are the typical events of a woman's life but, as they are illuminated by McDermott's beautiful prose, they demonstrate that no life is ordinary and that everyone is "someone." Marie's story is compelling for its realness. I read this book in a couple of days and was in awe of the power and emotional resonance of this quiet tale. Anyone who admires good writing will be impressed by this book. So much brilliance is packed into seemingly ordinary language. That Alice McDermott does so much with such economy seems miraculous.

The book begins in an Irish American neighborhood in Brooklyn where Marie lives during the time period between the world wars. She tells the story of her life, from sitting on a stoop at age seven waiting for her father to come out of the subway to sitting in a care facility at the end of her life. There is nothing linear about this tale; it is told in an episodic and impressionistic manner, like a slide show, and in that respect feels like real memory. Marie is a born noticer with weak eyes, a theme that is repeated throughout the book. It is the idea of the blind seer. These kinds of mythological and Biblical themes run throughout the book in such a subtle way that we notice them almost as an afterthought. But when we do, they stay with us.

Marie's Irish Catholic family includes her immigrant parents: a handsome and alcoholic father and a  strong and independent mother. She has one sibling: her beloved and delicate brother Gabe who enters the priesthood. His story is perhaps the most poignant in the book. The priesthood doesn't work out for him and he struggles with identity and emotional issues. One scene in particular depicts his pain and sorrow in the most haunting imagery.

Marie takes us through her childhood and early encounter with death (her best friend's mother), her first romantic experience and heartbreak, her job as a funeral director's "consoling angel" where she meets her husband, her happy marriage, the birth of her first child which almost kills her, and her later years when she is almost blind and living in a care facility. I loved the stories that capture Marie's stubbornness and strength (her best qualities), such as when she refused to learn how to cook from her mother and purposefully ruined the bread she was asked to bake for the family. We later learn that the young Marie had worried that if she learned how to cook her mother would die, just as her best friend's mother did.

I loved this book. If you don't own it, please go out right now and pick up a copy. I promise that when you put it down you will realize that you have had the pleasure of meeting "someone" worth knowing and whose life has much to teach us.

Autumnal Beauty in Lake Como

 Lake Como

"This lake exceeds anything I have ever beheld in beauty."

-- Percy Bysshe Shelley

After visiting Lake Como for the first time, I understood why the poets were inspired. Lake Como is a beautiful and romantic lake. And with the backdrop of the Alps, it is truly awe-inspiring. It has the kind of beauty and majesty that would inspire great art. In fact, the story of the writer Mary Shelley and her husband Percy Shelley gathering with their friends on a dark and stormy night on another lake (in Switzerland) in 1816 and creating the tale of Frankenstein was never far from my mind. I could imagine it happening in Lake Como, especially with scenic views such as the one above. (Go here to read more about the creation of this gothic horror story.) As I was soon to discover, Switzerland was only thirty minutes away.

I loved being at Lake Como in October. Because the weather was cool and the skies were often cloudy, the views of the lake were dramatic and magnificent. The cool weather and gray skies created the kind of atmosphere that made it easy to imagine the presence of the poets. And I loved wearing a sweater and jacket to go exploring each day. Bundling up at night and going to cozy restaurants for dinner overlooking the lake was the perfect ending to our days. Our favorite restaurant was Il Gatto Nero. 

Bellagio

There was fall color and inspiration everywhere. We took a boat trip around the lake and enjoyed the spectacular views. We would be stopping at Villa Carlotta and the picturesque village of Bellagio.

Gorgeous views along the way

Old and colorful buildings on the lake

Privately owned villas

Villa Carlotta

Villa Carlotta's spectacular gardens

The climb up affords beautiful views

On the way to Bellagio

The village of Bellagio

Narrow cobblestone streets took us to shops and restaurants

Shutters, awnings and window boxes add to the charm

The legendary Villa d'Este

 Villa d'Este

The following day we took a day trip to Lugano, Switzerland which was just thirty minutes away

Just a short drive and we arrived at Lake Lugano

The charming town of Lugano

The open-air market was filled with fall produce. Just gorgeous.

Look at those porcini mushrooms!

Walnuts

A giant squash

Lovely chestnuts

Chrysanthemums in fall colors completed the scene

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 My trip to Italy contained so much beauty and inspiration. The gorgeous fall produce I saw in Italy and Switzerland was impressive. Since returning home I have been going to farmers markets and cooking with seasonal produce whenever I can. I made this Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Apples from Food and Wine magazine. Filled with fall vegetables and fruit, it is perfect for this time of year. And it is delicious and healthy.

Go here for the recipe. Enjoy!

Old Friends

"The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you.  And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead.  And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours."

-- Alan Bennett, "The History Boys"

I love this quote from The History Boys by Alan Bennett. It takes my breath away. In fact, I think it is one of the best descriptions of the power of literature. When we connect with what a writer is saying in a book, we have our most powerful reading experiences. If you are passionate about books, this has probably happened to you. Finding a special book to read or reread because it speaks to you is comforting. My bookshelves are filled with old friends.

Many people feel this way about their favorite books. Maybe the feeling comes from knowing the books so well that we can quote from them. We remember a passage that made our heart sing with its lyricism or brought tears to our eyes with its poignancy. Maybe these are the kinds of books that make us feel good when we are a little down and need to be taken to a cozy place. They are the equivalent of a cup of tea by the fireplace on a rainy day. With certain books come moments of truth, wisdom and illumination. The reality of the book reflects our own reality. And we recognize a kindred spirit.

When the four women from Elizabeth Von Arnim's The Enchanted April come together in Italy, find happiness and forge unexpected friendships, many of us have felt that same sense of hope and liberation that comes from a new environment. When Margaret Schlegel of Howards End falls in love with the lovely old house in the country that belongs to Ruth Wilcox, we understand that it represents so much more than just a house. For Ruth it was a connection to the past and to the land; she knows that Margaret is its spiritual heir. We share Margaret's reverence for this house because we have all known houses that have that special something -- a life and a character of their own. When Charles Ryder succumbs to the charms of his best friend's family in Brideshead Revisited, we experienced the same thing when young.  When Mrs. Ramsay in To the Lighthouse describes Minta Doyle's "glow"and how it affects the other characters, we know exactly what she means. Some people just light up a room. When Colette writes about the relationship between a mother and daughter in Break of Day, her reflections on this powerful bond illuminate many of our own experiences. And when we read the final line of The Great Gatsby, we are filled with awe.

One of the books I have returned to many time is Mrs. Dalloway.  I am in love with the beauty of the writing and the realness of the heroine Clarissa Dalloway. The best novels take us out of our lives and put us into someone else's. When Clarissa walks out of her London house on a June morning to buy the flowers for her party, I am in her head and feel her joy. And that joy is just one part of the larger tapestry of thoughts and feelings she experiences all day long. As readers we are on this journey with her. And the last line of the book is one of the best closing lines of any novel.

  Do you have books that have spoken to you over the years and feel like old friends?

Top photo via Pinterest    

The Inner Things

"In a way winter is the real spring, the time when the inner things happen, the resurgence of nature."

--  Edna O'Brien, Irish writer

Livaria Lello Bookstore in Porto, Portugal

This is the time of the year when we tend to stay inside or go to indoor spaces that nurture the "inner things."  Recently I have spotted some beautiful places and writing that take us there.

 Bookstores

Shakespeare and Company in Paris

All of the book lovers out there (and I know you are one) can enjoy this inspiring article about the twenty most beautiful bookstores in the world. These spaces are truly stunning.  The only one I have been to is Shakespeare and Company in Paris where I fell in love with its bohemian beauty.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to visit the others?  Go here to see them all.  While many of us have been lamenting the closure of independent bookstores, an article like this gives us hope that at some point bookstores will be back.   And it is inspiring to know that these bookstores are valued and cherished. 

Museums

A visit to the museum is always enriching; it is one of those experiences that feeds the soul.  Right now the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has an exquisite exhibition of paintings by the 17th-century artist Caravaggio -- "Bodies and Shadows: Caravaggio and His Legacy" -- along with paintings by other European artists who were influenced by him.  I did a little research and discovered that Caravaggio was kind of a rock star; he had a big impact on an entire generation of painters throughout Europe in the seventeenth-century.  This exhibition includes more than fifty paintings, including many by Caravaggio, which have never been shown in California.  I feel good when I make the effort to see some art and am really looking forward to seeing this show.  

Dance

This scene from the ballet "Serenade" as performed by the New York City Ballet caught my eye the other day.  There is so much beauty and grace in this image;  I am always in awe of the beauty of ballet.  Go here to read more about "Serenade."  However, if we can't make it to New York, we can try to see a ballet performance in our own city.  Check your local paper to see what is playing nearby.  Many of the big ballet companies such as the Joffrey and the American Ballet travel around the country and perform.  Right now the Joffrey Ballet is touring with their spectacular production of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" -- it premiered in Paris in 1913 to a shocked public --  and I was lucky enough to see it this weekend!    

A favorite writer

One of the most rewarding and challenging writing projects (it requires discipline!) is keeping a diary.    Virginia Woolf used hers as a creative outlet -- "The habit of writing thus for my own eyes only is good practice.  It loosens the ligaments." -- as well as a journal for documenting her activities.  At the same time she was experimenting with a new form for the novel.  Books and words were her passion.  Here she writes about the kind of diary she would like hers to be:

"What sort of diary should I like mine to be?  Something loose knit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind.  I should like it to resemble some deep old desk, or capacious hold-all, in which one flings a mass of odds and ends without looking them through.  I should like to come back, after a year or two, and find that the collection had sorted itself and refined itself and coalesced, as such deposits so mysteriously do, into a mould, transparent enough to reflect the light of our life, and yet steady, tranquil compounds with the aloofness of a work of art.  The main requisite, I think on re-reading my old volumes, is not to play the part of censor, but to write as the mood comes or of anything whatever; since I was curious to find how I went for things put in haphazard, and found the significance to lie where I never saw it at the time."

It is not too late to start a diary for the new year!

   

 Inspiring Blogs

Some of the best bloggers open our eyes to what is going on in other parts of the world.  These bloggers (below) are taking us to some beautiful places.

Ben Pentreath shows us how beautiful London looks in the snow.  Go here .

Designtripper takes us to some special and rustic "cave" hotels which are located in the small, medieval hilltop villages of Italy.  The owner is attempting to save the dying hill towns in southern Italy and has worked with historians to revive them, adding these fascinating small hotels.  The interiors are decorated with an emphasis on traditional crafts such as textiles.  The coverlets and other linens are all produced locally by women who use ancient techniques.  These hotels are amazing!  Go here.

Sous Style gives us a peak into into the beautiful world of carnations.  We learn that even though carnations do not have a great reputation, they are actually one of the most respected and oldest cultivated flowers in the world.  And the most beautiful!  As long as you stay away from the typical colors of pink and red, they make stunning floral arrangements.  Go here.

  Food 52,  Amanda Hesser's exquisitely beautiful food blog, creates a "Downton Abbey"- inspired menu that starts with a creamy mushroom soup.  There are sage scones involved as well.  Go here.

And here is a terrific interview with Lesley Nicol, the actress who plays Mrs. Patmore on "Downton Abbey."  I would love to spend some time in her kitchen cooking the menu from Food 52!  As you read the questions and answers, be sure to click on the two videos that spoof "Downton Abbey."  They are very funny.

Put on the kettle, have a cup of tea, and enjoy.  There are so many places to go on a February day!

The Butterfly of the Moment

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily away.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the  butterfly of the moment." --  Vita Sackville-West

I was thinking about the writing that many of us do on our blogs or in our diaries and journals.  Some days are busy, others are restful, but no matter what kind of day we are having there are often moments that we would like to "clap the net over" and remember.  They are the moments that put a smile on our face and give us a feeling of contentment.   They are sometimes moments of illumination and revelation, the ones that Virginia Woolf called "moments of being." They are incandescent flashes of beauty and poignancy that happen when we are just going about the business of living.  Maybe we've just walked out our front door and, as the sun warms our body and we glance at the trees and flowers around us, we smile at the goodness of it all.  Or maybe we've just left a lunch with a dear friend and as we drive home we remember the words of wisdom she imparted (which we desperately needed) or the funny story she just related that we can't wait to share with someone else.

In the days when people wrote letters and kept diaries, they would take time to describe an experience, conversation or thought they wanted to share with others and create a little narrative to give to their friends.  Some of these letters and diaries, especially those written by famous people, can be looked at today to help us understand what life was like then.  I think of the letters and diaries of Virginia Woolf. Today there are not many people who write letters, but many people still keep journals or diaries and  write blogs.

As writers, we notice these special moments and write about them.  We preserve them to keep for ourselves and also to share with others.  And the beauty of writing it all down and giving it a narrative shape is that we see patterns, unexpected beauty, and themes.  The process of giving our lives a narrative shape through language helps us derive meaning out of what we do.  Vita Sackville-West was right that the days can "slip emptily away" if we don't savor the beautiful, fleeting moments that make up a day.  These are the simple pleasures , the special moments that are often forgotten unless we take the time to notice, take a picture, and write about them.  It turns out that these are the things that often make us the happiest.  And when we go back to read about them, they remind us of where true happiness lies -- in the simple pleasures, in the magical moments of everyday life.

Here are just a few ideas for remembering "the butterfly of the moment:"

Take your camera with you wherever you go, tuck it into your purse and have it ready to snap a special shot.  You will go back to it for inspiration, I promise.  When I got back from my garden tour of the Cotswolds two years ago, this photo captured the pastoral beauty of the English countryside.  It lead me, in a sort of stream of conscious way, to the "Mapp and Lucia" books by E.F. Benson which were set in the Cotswolds.  I had always been curious about them and now was the time to make their acquaintance.   I devoured them, laughed out loud at their comic genius, and also watched the excellent television adaptation.  I know I will return to them again and again.  Laughter is medicine for the soul.

Write down meaningful lines you read in books, you will be so happy when you go back to them for inspiration.  Here is one of my recent discoveries from Loitering With Intent by Muriel Spark.  This wonderful book is about a successful writer looking back at the beginning of her career.  The following line, my favorite in the book, captures the character's joy about being a writer and is an inspiration for those of us who are aspiring writers.  She describes the personal satisfaction that she has gotten from the creative process; she has no regrets about the life she has chosen:

"And so, having entered the fullness of my years, from there by the grace of God I go on my way rejoicing."

When you travel, take pictures of course, but also keep a journal of your observations and feelings.  You will go back to your travel journal and remember who you were then and it just may enhance your next trip.  I kept this journal when my husband and I took our young daughters to England and France many years ago.  One entry I love tells about a day that we chose to follow our children's preference for staying at our hotel and playing  in the garden rather than going to Blenheim Palace.  Although initially I was disappointed, the simple beauty of watching our girls play outside in nature in another country far from home outweighed visiting an historic site.  I wrote about that day in my journal.

Walk in your garden or outside every morning with your coffee.  It's the quietest and freshest time of the day and you just may notice the first flowers to bloom on your favorite plant.  Write about it in your garden journal.  I will never forget the year our garden was on a small neighborhood garden tour, and the tree peony was the highlight of the garden that everyone talked about.  We had purchased it the day before the tour at our local nursery, and placed it in a pot near the front door.  I love to remember that moment.  This lovely plant blooms every year.

Clip articles from newspapers and magazines and save them.  You will use them later.  As I clean out my study I am finding so many treasures from the past.  This one is from the dearly missed "House and Garden" magazine and was written in December of 2001.  In it the writer tells the story of how after 9/11 he discovered the real meaning of the holiday rituals passed down from his parents.  I pull it out every year during the holiday season and I cry each time I read it.

And just yesterday I was delighted to read an interview with J.K. Rowling in the New York Times.  I loved all her answers and felt we were kindred spirits.  There is something akin to an old-fashioned girl about Rowling that I can relate to.  I saved the piece.  My favorite answer was when she was asked "If you could be any character from literature, who would it be?"  She answered, "Elizabeth Bennett, naturally."  I will be hanging on to this one.  Go here to read more.

We are the repositories of so many experiences and when we write about them we turn them into something precious. Someone once told me that the happiest people are the enthusiasts.  Chroniclers, diarists, essayists, and bloggers all share something in common.  What we all seem to want to do is share our pleasure in the movement of life.    By capturing our experiences in words we transform them into the ultimate memory book.  Perhaps we will turn it all into fiction one day or weave it into a memoir.  These experiences are the essence of who we are but if we don't capture them, they may be forgotten and go the way of the butterfly.