My Heart

If you know me then you know that I'm a reader. If you know me well, you know that I believe that the magic a book holds is only capable of being revealed if you meet it at a certain time. For me there are a handful of books that are special to me because at the time I read them I was completely willing to give myself over to them - The Clan of the Cavebear, Alias Grace, Midwives to name a few. Since this is a time of transition for me, I did as I have always done. I turned to my one true comfort: books. I looked to Anne Shirley, the ever optimistic character of the Anne of Green Gables series. She didn't disappoint. Anne is such a whimsical, young character that it is hard not to be drawn to her. I've said before that I wish I'd met Anne earlier in life but I know somehow that I met her at the very right moment. So one afternoon a couple of weeks ago I headed to the bookstore in Shinjuku and bought the third book of the series which is about Anne's four years at Redmond College. At the end of the book, Anne and her friend Priscilla are talking about what they have learned during their four years at college and Priscilla sums up her feelings by paraphrasing her professor: 'There is so much in the world for us all, if we only have the eyes to see it, and the heart to love it, and the hand to gather it to ourselves-so much in men and women, so much in art and literature, so much everywhere in which to delight, and for which to be thankful.' This I can truly say is what I've learned from my four years in Tokyo.








































I also decided to read the Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin - a series that my friend Russell (who knows very well my penchant for sci-fi, be it tv or novel) has been after me to read for the last two years. This novel definately falls into the category of right time, right place. I loved LOVED, LOVED all three of the books. If you call yourself a Harry Potter fan - go back to the Earthsea Trilogy and experience for yourself the origin of this type of novel. I know that when I look back on this time, when I think about when I left my beloved Tokyo, I will think of these novels, just as I think of Mystic River when I think about my first night in Tokyo, alone in an empty apartment far away from everything familiar. When I pass these books in the book store I'll run my hand over them and like any good friend they'll remind me of everything that I have to be thankful for.