The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, Elisabeth Tova Bailey
This wasn’t a life-changing read, but in a way I think that was the point of the book itself. When a woman is confined to bed with a chronic illness a friend brings her a plant and an inadvertent guest: a snail. With her world so greatly diminished, the snail becomes a primary point of interest in her daily life. The book celebrates the wonder of nature, how something as ordinary as a snail contains a universe of marvels.
Watership Down, Richard Adams
I’ve been meaning to read this book for years so when I saw it at the library one day I decided it was time to cross it off my list. It was a really enjoyable and compelling read. “A book about rabbits? How interesting can that be?” The strength of the story is really in the character development. Adams creates an interesting plot but draws you into the plight of these rabbits. Each rabbit has its own unique, complex, and multi-faceted personality. The book is also an astute commentary on human nature and social organization. While it would certainly keep the interest of a young reader, there’s a depth of observation that would keep an adult’s attention as well.
The Perfectionists, Simon Winchester
I started a new job in August at an aerospace manufacturing company and so this book was a perfect compliment to my work. It is the story of “precision” as a concept in the modern age, how people began to look for ways to standardize manufacturing and guarantee consistency of results. I learned about the origin of “Jo blocks” from the inimitable Carl Edvard Johansson all the way to the disastrous flaw on the Hubbell mirror. Overall, the book was a really interesting historical account of engineering and invention. It really made me appreciate all the technology and machines that we take for granted today.
What I’ve Been Listening To
Optimist, FINNEAS
I’m pretty obsessed with this album, particularly the song “Medieval.” Would highly recommend.
Nothing Much Happens, Kathryn Nicolai
This is a podcast series designed to help quiet your brain and help you fall asleep more quickly. Each episode tells a story where…nothing much happens. Maybe it is a quiet walk in the forest or a story about staying inside on a rainy day. I find this particularly helpful because it gives my brain something to focus on, unlike just listening to calming music, but isn’t so interesting that I have to stay awake to find out the ending.
What I’ve Been Thinking About
This summer I read an essay from Carl Rogers, “On the Good Life.” In this essay he makes a point about how the good life is not a fixed point or state of being. It is not a destination you get to. It is a process—a direction.
This reminded me of a quote I really appreciated from “Entangled Life” by Merlin Sheldrake:
“A mycelial network is a map of a fungus’ recent history and is a helpful reminder that all life-forms are in fact processes not things. The ‘you’ of five years ago was made from different stuff than the ‘you’ of today. Nature is an event that never stops.”
I think this concept is crucial to living a happy and fulfilled life. We get stuck in unhelpful or unhealthy patterns when we think in terms of all or nothing. If we don’t have everything we desire or if we haven’t reached a certain destination, then somehow we’ve failed and life is lacking. But if we can think in terms of becoming, of moving in a desired direction, rather than needing to “arrive” somewhere, then it is easier to appreciate what we have and who we are at this moment in time.
