‘Gift from the Sea’ by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

This book was written for women, but men, don’t let that stop you from buying it. It would be a great gift for a friend/mother/sister/wife/daughter, and after you have given it, try to sneak a peak at it yourself!

Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote ‘Gift from the Sea’ before I was born, yet it still has fresh insight for today. Written during a vacation on the beach, Lindbergh shares wisdom and reflects on the shape that women’s lives and relationships take amidst the pressing demands of family and career, and how to find balance and recharge when overwhelmed. Generations of women have enjoyed learning in her unsentimental, contemplative beach classroom, with shells as object lessons.When life’s troubles and stress have beaten you down, read these meditations and let them return you to the calm rhythm of waves lapping on the beach.

Anne was an interesting woman. Married to famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, she had 6 children, one of whom was kidnapped and murdered. She herself was a pilot and adventurer, but you would never know that from reading her book (and indeed I didn’t!). She writes from an inner strength and doesn’t include many personal details.

In one chapter she talks about learning to want less and enjoy fewer things, dropping the acquisitiveness that we so often suffer from. “One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.”

On  a personal note. This book was given to me by a dear friend whose name was Meredith. Her name means “the sea” and she was a marine biologist. The ocean was always her place for restoration when life got her down. She now walks on the beaches of an eternal shore. She was a gift to me.