book gift from the sea by anne morrow lindbergh

She lost her first baby under tragic circumstances in 1932 and retreated to England and later Brittany to survive the obsession of the media at the time. She was the first woman in America to earn a first-class glider pilots license in 1930 the first woman ever to win the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal in 1934, for her aviation and exploration adventures she also received the National Book Award in 1938 for Listen! The Wind, her novel based on those adventures, and she remained a bestselling author all her life. Sometimes we need isolation allow the space within for a clearer perspective on life.Īnne Morrow Lindbergh was an adventurous woman and juggled raising five kids alongside this aspect of her character. She is deeply perceptive of emotion and the patterns of life and has gathered these perceptions into an entirely accessible form – and what a time to absorb these views. She uses each element of her surroundings along with her shell collection, to provide the starting points for her ideas. Following her through the magical conjuring of her surrounding landscape – beach and sea, sand and sky – in words, is almost a meditation in itself. Her words in Gift From The Sea read in a rhythmic, almost hypnotic way. Lindbergh has a beautiful turn of phrase. She describes it as like a wheel where the circumference of the wheel spins around while the central point remains still, revolving more slowly. It was comforting to read, and addressed the importance of creating the right kind of busy in your life, embracing it, and still being able to find a place of stillness within. She offers profound thoughts on balancing life and love, and navigating marriage and motherhood. In her book Lindbergh taps into early ideas of mindfulness and simple living – topics seemingly well before her time. I first heard about Gift From The Sea through reading Books for Living: A Readers Guide to Life by Will Schwalbe, which I adored – part autobiography, part collection of book reviews and informal essays, Books for Living was insightful and thought provoking – and Gift From The Sea was one of the books he discussed. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, ‘Gift From The Sea’, p.23. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith… One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea. The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. While there, she takes the time to sift through her thoughts like grains of sand, arranging them as shells, and writing her experiences along the way. She stayed in a tiny cottage by the sea where she spent her days connecting with nature and embracing simple living.

Lindbergh’s immersive writing of what she calls ‘beach living’, revolves around her solitary holiday near a beach on Captiva Island on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

Book gift from the sea by anne morrow lindbergh