So Much Remains the Same

 A very dear friend presented me with a copy of Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh several years ago. I started reading it a few times and was able to finally finish on the 3rd attempt. Lindbergh wrote Gift from the Sea in 1955 while taking a short vacation at the ocean and found inspiration from the shells on the shore. Her insights on a woman's life are both interesting, and so familiar in many ways.

An excerpt from the Oyster Bed chapter:

Many people never climb above the plateau of forty-to-fifty. The signs that presage growth, so familiar, it seems to me, to those in early adolescence: discontent, restlessness, doubt, despair, longing, are interpreted falsely as signs of decay. In youth one does not as often misinterpret the signs; one accepts them, quite rightly, as growing pains. One takes them seriously, listens to them, follows where they lead. One is afraid. Naturally. Who is not afraid of pure space - that breath-taking empty space of an open door? But despite fear, one goes through to the room beyond.

But in middle age, because of the false assumption that it is a period of decline, one interprets these life-signs, paradoxically, as signs of approaching death. Instead of facing them, one runs away; one escapes - into depressions, nervous breakdowns, drink, love affairs or frantic, thoughtless, fruitless overwork. Anything, rather than stand still and learn from them. One tries to cure the signs of growth, to exorcise them, as if they were devils, when really they might be angels of annunciation.

Angels of annunciation of what? Of a new stage in living when, having shed many of the physical struggles, the worldly ambitions, the material encumbrances of active life, one might be free to fulfill the neglected side of one's self. One might be free for growth of mind, heart and talent; free at last for spiritual growth; free of the clamping sunrise shell.

So much has transpired since this was written in 1955; major advances in science and technology, political and economic issues worldwide; and the bigger social movements - Civil Rights, Women's Liberation, and the Environmental Crisis. Women have played an essential role in all of these and have torn down barriers and made advances for the women who followed.

However, for all that has changed in the 60 plus years that have passed, so much has remained the same. We have more independence and control over our lives, but we encounter the same daily struggles. This becomes very apparent, when the words written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh so many years ago still resonate today. Read Gift from the Sea and you may well find it relates to the many stages and struggles of your own life.