The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery

 

 Clara and Maria are gifted with the talents of empathy, intuition, clairvoyance and creative expression. They share an intimate communication and connection with the natural world that surrounds them. Maria lives in Burgundy, France; Clara lives in Italy. She is originally from the Abruzzo.

 Even though the girls live away from each other the communication between them goes beyond the realm of words…

  I appreciate the delicate style through which Barbery describes her characters. For example, I will offer a glimpse into the character of Maria from page 86:

 “And yet Maria was close to the religion of poetry every day, whenever she climbed a tree or listened to the song of the branches and foliage. Very early on she had understood that other people went about the countryside as if they were blind and deaf, and the symphonies she heard and the tableaux she embraced were, to them, mere sounds of nature and mute landscapes. When she wandered through her fields and woods she was in constant contact with a material tide in the form of intangible but visible lines which enabled her to know the movement and radiation of things, and if in winter she liked to go to the oak trees in the combe in the neighboring field, it was because the three trees liked winter too, and made vibrant sketches whose strokes and curves she could see as if they were an engraving embodied in the air by a master’s hand. Moreover, Maria conversed not only with matter, but also with the creatures of the land.”

  How can the enhanced perceptions and sensitivities of their human souls help them face the threat of war? What role do they play in the fight between oppression and freedom?

 The Life of Elves is a tribute to the bond between art, empathy and Nature. I appreciate the mystical quality of the prose.

  Metaphors and descriptions paint dream-like scenes that become timeless and intriguing to the reader. Unlike The Elegance of the Hedgehog, this story contains elements of fantasy. 

  The author offers an introspective outlook about some of the characters. Muriel Barbery unearths the gems that are concealed under the superficial façade of everyday life, and she does so with artistry. She did this in The Elegance of the Hedgehog and she conveys a similar message in The Life of Elves. For example, read the description of Leonora Acciavalti and draw your own conclusions about it:

  “… while the guests dined, their gazes followed the network of curving lines embraced by her gestures, and when they left they took away with them some of Leonora’s grace: she may not have been beautiful, but they found her sublime…”

Muriel Barbery describes Leonora as a “world unto herself.”

 “Her caste had bethrothed her to the role of bored heiress, but fate had made a daydreamer of her, gifted with otherworldly power, to such good effect that in her presence you felt as if a window onto infinity had been opened, and you understood that it was by delving into yourself that you escaped imprisonment.”

    There is a story buried in a world of dream-like descriptions, metaphors and introspective reflections. However, the conflict and plot do not appear well-defined. The plot rolls on  subtle waves of undertones. It is blurred by the poetical prose and the ramblings, which become monotonous at times. It takes patience and attention to remember the endless list of characters, both elves and humans.

  Some features of the story irritated me as a reader. Why are some of the characters always drinking wine? I do not see the significance of this or the need to incorporate it. The author appears to be obsessed with the act of drinking wine and with hunting. I think these obsessions tainted the beauty of the story and appeared to be at odds with the essence of the tale.

  The unique descriptions of some of the characters and the reflections the author threads into the narrative aroused my curiosity, but the story did not deliver its full potential. It did not satisfy all my expectations.

  I recommend the story to poetry lovers with the patience and time to lose themselves in the lyrical narrative, the epiphanies and perceptions. Reading this book is a personal journey, and it may require more than one read to gain a deep exploration and understanding of it. It may illuminate something inside your own conscience or it may not. It may awaken something to which you have been indifferent, or it may simply not be for you. I am thankful for the story because I reveled in the magical nature of the descriptions, but I was left asking for more…

 

 The photographs of the landscapes are from unsplash.com

 

 

Octavia E. Butler: The Last Interview and Other Conversations

 

 I was ecstatic to learn about the experience of a woman in Australia who jumped into a cold stream to rescue a wild baby horse. The newborn wild horse had fallen into the water and the desperate mother horse had nudged the woman asking for help. The woman’s husband took a video of the event. The baby horse’s parents witnessed the rescue and soon enough, the mother was able to nurse her baby; the horse family reunited.

  This heart-warming story deserves to be shared, and Octavia Butler gave me a good reason to do so. On the same day I came across this story, I learned that Octavia Butler loved horses from this fabulous book of engaging interviews with Octavia Butler.

  Grab your favorite infusion, curl up in your comfy spot and immerse yourself in the depths of these amazing conversations. What a pleasure it was to read her words! It was like spending time with a good friend... You don’t want those conversations to end.

  Octavia Butler was too humble to acknowledge that she was a visionary, but she was. If you don’t believe me, read this book. Her words are as relevant today as they were when she said them.

  Octavia Butler asserts that to foresee the future, one has to study history.

   In addition to sharing interesting life experiences, she reveals a lot about the writing life. Persistence and the desire to learn from mistakes are more important than talent. They are necessary aspects of a writing life with goals and a purpose. I dare say that to persist and learn from mistakes are imperative actions in everything we wish to attain.

  Her grandmother managed to eke out a living by working hard in sugar plantations in Louisiana. She had been treated like a slave, except for the fact that she was free to leave the job if she chose to do so. Eventually, she saved enough to move to California. She purchased her own space and worked as a farmer. Octavia’s mother lost her husband when Octavia was a little girl. Her mother could not complete elementary school. She worked hard as a maid to make sure Octavia had what she needed to complete her own education. Octavia witnessed how her mother was treated poorly in the workplace, enduring insults and humiliation.

   Octavia Butler meditates on her mother’s sacrifices. She considers her a hero. Octavia’s hard work and dedication had the foundation on her mother’s sacrifices. Despite the fact that Octavia grew among resilient, strong women, Octavia did not find characters like these women in the books she read during her childhood. The novels and short stories were mostly focused on the stories of white men. She was puzzled. Why didn’t science fiction authors integrate black women into the stories?

   Octavia Butler only encountered stories about black people when the narrative dealt with the topic of slavery. Otherwise, black characters were not included. Thankfully, Octavia Butler’s writing incorporated diverse people and challenged the stereotypes and biases she had to put up with through her childhood and youth.

   I appreciate her style of communication. It is concise, clear and honest. I admire her introspective, reflective attitude and the clarity and precision of her observations.

 I enjoyed the revelations about the different books she wrote, what she had in mind when she wrote them, and the ways she tackled challenges and obstacles.

  I read Parable of the Sower not too long ago. Parable of the Talents, the sequel to Parable of the Sower, is now in my mental list of books to be read.

  Octavia Butler reveals interesting information about these two books, “One of the kinds of research I did was to read a lot of stuff about World War II. Not the war itself, but I wanted to know in particular how a country goes fascist, so, I have this country in Parable of the Sower, and especially Parable of the Talents, sliding in that direction. And I really was not trying to prophesize that somehow we would do that but…”

 Regarding these two books, she added, “You can call them save the world fiction, but it clearly doesn’t save anything. It just calls people’s attention to the fact that too much needs to be done and obviously they are people who are running the country who don’t care. I mean, look at what the Congress is doing in terms of taking money away from every cause that is helping people who aren’t very rich; it makes it harder for people to get an education. Who would want to live in a world where there were fewer educated people?”

 She said this in January, 2006, the year she passed away. Yet her words resonate as if they were pronounced today.

 I agree with Octavia Butler.  I would like to add, what kind of government uses fear, threats and intimidation to stop children from attending school? 

 The totalitarian regime of Hitler did it, too. 

 Let's not forget, however, that the right to an education is a basic human right.

 To understand the features of fascism, I encourage you to check this site.

  I strongly believe that critical thinking skills and empathy are important elements of a well-rounded education. These are skills and talents that should be prioritized. They should form the foundation of every healthy society, because without them democracy cannot survive.

 Tyrants deride education and they do anything to dismantle it, because they know that a well-rounded education is a threat to their abuse of power. 

  Octavia Butler's reflections apply to our current situation:

 "I guess many people just need someone to feel superior to to make themselves feel better. You see Americans doing it now, unfortunately, while voting against their own interests. It is that kind of shortsighted behavior that is destroying us."

 I will pass on this book by dropping it in a Free Little Library. Soon it will be dancing to the rhythm of somebody else’s thoughts and dreams. Such is the magic of books…

  Octavia E. Butler was a pioneer of the science fiction genre who received a MacArthur “Genius” grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena, California, in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother. She was the author of several award-winning novels including Parable of the Sower (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and Parable of the Talents (1995), winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.

 

If you enjoyed this book, feel free to read my writing on the following books:

 

Spirit Woman: The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nunez

Unstoppable Native American Women by April Riverwood

 

 

 

Walking Away From Hate by Jeanette and Lauren Manning

 

  

   Last December I was distraught and shocked to learn that a student at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, shot and killed a teacher and another student. The shooter’s action had been motivated by neonazi, white supremacist ideology. That same month, a neonazi, white supremacist rammed his vehicle into a group of people at a Christmas Market in Germany, killing five people and injuring several others. (Please, note that I type the word neonazi without capital letters on purpose).

    Neonazi hate groups are part of a reality that is often ignored. Interestingly, the members of these extremist groups consider themselves a “political movement.”

  These hate groups recruit young people in a state of vulnerability. The vulnerable young people who fall prey to the brainwashing of these groups—or I should say to the brain-tainting-- happen to be angry and insecure. They have a need for validation and often feel like outcasts. They may have a need to be accepted by their peers and they lack a sense of purpose.

  These neonazi violent groups entice them by making them feel that they care about them, but the reality is different. The hate groups are based on neonazi ideology. They teach the followers to loathe anybody they consider non-white, gays and Jews; they hate black people; they resent immigrants, falsely accusing them of stealing their jobs. Instead of white supremacy, the ideology should be called white insecurity or white perversion.

  How can we prevent people from joining hate groups or from sympathizing with hate ideology? We need to raise awareness on the spread of neonazi ideology. Other hate extremist groups--ISIS, for example-- follow the same pattern and strategies.

  Lauren Manning belonged to one of these groups in the past. She knows what it is like to be part of such a group. She was able to get out of the hate group despite the dangers and threats she encountered, and is now working to share her story and help others in similar situations.

   Two years ago, I received a copy of On Account of Darkness  by Ian Kennedy, published by Tidewater press, a small publisher from Canada. I wrote a review on it at My Writing Life blog: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration. Soon after that I navigated the site of the small Canadian publisher, and Walking Away from Hate caught my attention. I included Walking Away from Hate in my mental list of books to be read, but it took me two years to get to it. The book is not present in the library system I count on, so I chose to purchase it directly from Tidewater Press. I did not use Amazon.

  I approached the read with trepidation due to the unpleasant nature of the topic. However, I was eager to understand how young people are lured into the network of falsehoods that coax them to believe in the existence of a so-called superior white race. 

    Five years after she left the white supremacist group, Lauren Manning learned about the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and about the murder of Heather Heyer by a white supremacist. It summoned up memories of her past: “I had been living under a rock for the last few years, not paying attention to current events, but I couldn’t pretend I was shocked to hear of the Charlottesville tragedy. Back when I’d advocated for the division of humanity, I’d known many lost and angry souls in search of a life purpose. Their discussions had revolved around violence and what they considered cleverly crafted methods of returning society to an all-white population. Back then, I believed them. I was one of them, totally immersing myself in their culture while desensitizing myself to my emotions. I’d taken their ideology as gospel and would have gladly died for it.”

 Walking Away from Hate shows how Lauren became involved in a neonazi, white supremacist group, and how her choices pulled her away from her family. Even though Lauren had grown in a healthy, loving environment, she had been exposed to the ideology of her maternal grandfather, who later became estranged from the family. Her grandfather had migrated to Canada from England in 1954. He had fought in the Second World War. Yet he resented immigrants. He disliked gays, black people and Jews and had always been clear about his bigotry. Eventually he severed his relationship with Jeanette and her family, but traces of his ideology may have contributed  to Lauren’s choices when she was in a state of vulnerability, after losing her dad to leukemia at age 16.

  I think it is important to highlight that races do not exist. It has been proven by science.

   The obsession with classifying people into different races makes me uncomfortable; it has been a trend that may perpetuate biases and stereotypes. Science has shown that there is only one race: the human race. Putting labels on people on the basis of something that does not exist is absurd, but we are caught up in a pattern that has emphasized a way of dividing people. Race is a societal construction used to divide people into categories. For this reason, whenever I can avoid ticking the box, I do so.

  Walking Away from Hate is shared in Jodi Picoult’s literary style: mother and daughter narrate their experiences in alternating sections of the book. The conversational style of their prose is engaging and introspective, and it keeps you turning the pages, because you have no idea what is going to happen next. You keep wondering how far she is going to go before she comes to her senses and returns to her family.

  One aspect of the book that I’d like to emphasize is how women in the group were viewed as a means to an end.  Women were simply considered a medium to have children. Their choices and talents were ignored, disregarded and ridiculed. They are never treated as equals.

   The unsafe situations Lauren went through and the emotional and physical violence she had to put up with stunned me. The poor choices that led her to drink alcohol and to neglect herself and surround herself by people whose actions were about hate, criminality and violence made the read heartbreaking, but I love that at the end she was able to leave that behind and to rebuild an authentic life of health and hope not only for herself, but also for the benefit of her family, friends and for those who need her experience to understand that choices make a difference.

  The new beginning in her life allowed her to study, find a fulfilling job, and to discover new talents and hobbies. Her new sense of self paved the way to thrive in healthy relationships. She embarked on a path of mindful meditation daily. As she left her past behind, the support and forgiveness of her family were crucial in the process of healing and recovery.   

    I highly recommend Walking Away from Hate. Read it and share it with the teenagers in your life. Talk about it. If you are a social studies teacher, use the book to educate others on the topic. It can save lives.  

 Last but not least, I will share resources that may also be of help:

  Life After Hate was founded in 2011. This is their message: “Life After Hate is dedicated to inspiring individuals to a place of compassion and forgiveness, for themselves and for all people.” Their goal is to interrupt violence committed in the name of ideological or religious beliefs through education, intervention, research and outreach. According to the book, they help people exiting hate groups and support those who have already left, in both the United States and Canada.

 Exit USA was born in 2014 and is available to people around the world. Its mission statement reads, “No judgment. Just help. If you are ready to leave hate and violence behind, we are here to support you. At Exit USA we are dedicated to helping individuals leave the white power movement and start building a more fulfilling and positive life, just like we did.”

 

Other organizations/resources to seek support:

https://www.splcenter.org/policy-advocacy/

 https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/peril-understanding-preventing-gender-sexuality-bigotry/

www.antihate.ca

www.moonshotcve.com

 

Around The World On Two Wheels by Peter Zheutlin

 

   

   It took Annie Londonderry fifteen months to circle the world on a bicycle, an odyssey that started in June,1894, and culminated in September, 1895. This adventurous woman was ready to defy the conventions of her time to accomplish her goal. She managed to ditch the heavy Victorian clothing that women were supposed to wear to satisfy the sense of modesty imposed on them during that time.

    This was not a minor deed considering that she was a Jewish immigrant and that antisemitism and other forms of discrimination against minorities were running rampant.

  When she was a girl, her family, whose last name was Cohen, migrated from Latvia, which was part of Czarist Russia at that time. Millions of Jews escaped from Russia due to persecution, economic hardship and restrictive antisemitic laws. Annie and her family settled down in Boston.

    Three weeks ago, somebody told me about the first woman who circled the globe on a bike in 1894, so I looked her up and I found her name. Then I wondered if there was a book about her experience. In doing my internet search I found Peter Zheutlin’s book: Around the World on Two Wheels. As soon as I learned about it, I requested it from my local library.

   Peter Zheutlin is her great-grandnephew, but Peter never had a chance to meet her. He first learned about Annie from a stranger, a historian whose name is Michael Wells. To write Annie’s story Peter researched her life thoroughly and documented her travels by gleaning information from multiple media sources such as old newspapers and magazines along with some family letters and anecdotes he recorded when he contacted Mary, Annie’s granddaughter.

  Annie Londonderry had to deal with various challenges and obstacles when she decided to travel the world on a simple bike. First of all, she had no experience biking. The prospect of wearing corsets and heavy skirts while on a bike could have been enough to deter her from riding, but she was intent on doing so.

  Her words, published by The Sunday World, introduce us to her story: “The first idea of this trip came into my head when I heard of a wager that had been made that no woman could traverse the globe on a wheel. I accepted the burdensome end of the wager, and determined to win it. The Sunday World, as usual, was interested in the project. I knew nothing whatever about a bicycle. I had never ridden one, and there I had agreed to ride one around the world. Of course, the first thing to do was to get a bicycle and learn to ride.”

  Annie expected to make money by respectable means during her trip. She did so by selling silk handkerchiefs, giving talks to share her stories, knowledge and experience and by selling photographs of herself with her autograph on them.

  In those days, a woman riding a bicycle was considered a “disgraceful spectacle” by some people, but this did not discourage Annie. Women were starting to ride bicycles and to consider these devices as a sign of emancipation and freedom.

  During those years, bicycles became popular among women, but there was still controversy over whether women should or should not ride bicycles. The research on this topic is meticulous and engaging, for it mentions the names and anecdotes of women who completed long-distance rides. The book also highlights the fascinating link between the women who advocated for their right to vote and the use of bicycles. Did you know, for example, that Frances Willard learned to ride a bike at age 51?

 

Biking and the art of self-promotion

  To meet her goals Annie Londonderry relied on the art of self-promotion, something she was lucky enough to handle well. She was an avid storyteller, and her capacity to distort reality to make her stories more engaging was one of her talents. She had a flair for entertaining audiences across the world, and this helped to sustain herself financially during her trip. However, her adventure was plagued by several dangers and threats.  In the year 1894, when she was travelling, China and Japan were at war over the Korean territory. When Annie visited the region, she was imprisoned for a short period of time. Her reports reveal descriptions of what she witnessed.

  Annie also had to face the fact that there were people who did not like a woman working to promote herself. Women were not expected to get involved in such activities. It was viewed with suspicion and derision, and, as you may know, it was considered petty or even arrogant. It may have been envy what drove men and women to criticize her bravery and free spirit. In some places some of these people even doubted her gender because of her clothing and athletic habits.

     Yet what the naysayers said or thought did not dissuade Annie from pursuing her goal. She was unstoppable. Here’s the route she followed:

   If you expect to meet a perfect woman in this book, however, you will not find that. She was not a perfect human being—and nobody is, as far as I know--and why is perfection expected from women? I do not see the same attitude toward men. 

  Annie did accomplish her biking goal, and her great-grandnephew was excited to research her experience and share it. The information, however, is limited. I found the book to be a bit disorganized at times and some parts were a bit tedious, but I am thankful for Peter Zheutlin’s book. It made me reflect on various topics and it inspired me to learn about history.

 

 Annie and her family secrets

   Annie Londonderry was married and had three little kids when she launched into her odyssey. However, she kept this information hidden from the public lest she be judged and rejected.

  I was surprised to learn that Annie did not like to be a mother, but then I realized that in those days women were expected to become mothers even if they were not motivated to be mothers. Then I wondered if they had the freedom to make a choice over whether to become mothers. I wondered whether contraception was even available. I did not even know if contraceptives existed.

  I researched this topic and was shocked to learn that in the United States of America contraceptives were banned in the 1870s and the ban lasted until the 1960s. Also, abortion was criminalized in every state in the 1880s. The Comstock Act was proposed by Anthony Comstock, a fanatic religious man who hated women. The Comstock Bill was passed by Congress in 1873. The Comstock Act did not allow the promotion of contraceptive methods and it banned the transport of contraceptives by mail or other common carriers. You can read more about it here. 

  The United States of America was the only Western nation criminalizing birth control at that time.Therefore, many women were simply forced to become mothers because of their circumstances. Now we, as women, have the freedom to choose whether we want to have children or not, so we cherish the experience of being mothers. I had never thought about this before until I reflected on the life story of Annie Londonderry, the woman who cycled the world for the first time in history.

  Annie and her husband did not like parenting their children. I was baffled to learn that they sent them to Catholic boarding schools, where the kids faced stressful situations that affected their lives as adults. The emotional distance from their parents along with the harsh treatment in those school years left psychological scars for life.

  This book inspired me to learn more about the time period and opened my mind to understand that mothering may not have been a pleasant experience for many women in the past. I immersed myself in this book thinking that I would simply learn about a woman traveling the world on a bike, but I ended up researching subjects I would never have researched otherwise, like the use of contraceptives in the 1800s. Such is the magic of books.

 Riding through time takes us back to the present

  It was distressing to learn how religious fanaticism in the United States of America curtailed the rights of women. I am surprised that these historical topics are not discussed openly today. When I reflect upon this matter, I suddenly become aware of the ways in which a set of ridiculous rules were imposed to violate the rights of women to body autonomy. The right to body autonomy is a human right and it should be treated as such. No religion should be allowed to infringe upon this basic right. We are now in the twenty first century, and we are still confronting the creepiness of men and women who are proud of empowering men who are entitled to violate women and publicly say so.

 

   Conclusion

    Annie’s biking adventure opened her life to new experiences and afforded her the freedom she craved for during a time that constrained the lives of women in multiple ways. When I reflect on Annie’s life story, I conclude that in some ways Annie was the product of her times, but in others she resisted the oppression of her gender.

  It is hard to believe that it is the year 2025 and we are still seeing that so many people still believe women are inferior to men, even when they are qualified and have a background of honesty and hard work… and it is disturbing to see that men are rewarded for bad behaviors.

   As I read about Annie, however, I feel thankful that I don’t need to wear those ridiculous bloomers when I ride my own bike. I appreciate my freedom to choose comfortable leggings to go cycling.  Unsurprisingly, the twenty first century still has people questioning the right of women to wear leggings. Yes, seriously, I am not making it up: you can learn about this here.

  Oh, well. Stay tuned, because the bigots are empowered.

 

 If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check my writing on the following books:

 

Running for Good by Fiona Oakes

Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman

 

  Enjoy your reading adventures, and thank you for visiting My Writing Life Blog: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration.

 

 

Borges and Me: An Encounter by Jay Parini

 

“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love...” Walt Whitman

 What a gift from the universe this book is! I am mesmerized at this encounter. I found Borges and Me in a Free Little Library in the city where I live. If you don’t know what free little libraries are, feel free to learn about them here. This incredible book by Jay Parini was published in the year 2020, but I came across it recently. I did not know anything about its existence.

  Borges and Me starts with the narrator learning about the death of Jorge Luis Borges at age 86 in June, 1986. Strangely enough, Borges’s wife, whom he married a few months before his death, also died at age 86 in the year 2023.

  Her name was Maria Kodama.

   The pain of learning about Borges’s death is palpable. He had met Borges in 1971 and they became friends during the week they spent together in Scotland. The newscaster described Borges as “a writer who blended fact and fiction in a peerless sequence of narratives that defied all boundaries… as a writer, he explored the most idiosyncratic spaces in the human experience, a lover of labyrinths and mirrors, a shapeshifting writer who could never be defined.” From that point on Jay Parini transports us to the year 1970, when he was a young man trying to find his place in the world.

  Originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jay Parini wanted to make a living as a writer. After many conflicts and deliberations, he applied for post-graduate study at the University of St. Andrews, where he was admitted into the doctoral program. His parents supported him reluctantly. They all agreed on one point, however: joining the Vietnam war was not a good idea. The stay in St. Andrews, Scotland, would be a better choice.

   Jay Parini was not sure what his future as a writer would be like, but he had a special interest in writing poetry, and he took it seriously, so, while he was in St. Andrews, somebody introduced him to a poet. His name was Alastair Reid, a man who made translations of Borges’s literary works. Alastair became Jay Parini’s friend and mentor, and he was the one who introduced him to Jorge Luis Borges, who at that time was already blind.

   Alastair asked Jay to stay with Borges for a week. Borges would not be able to stay by himself due to his blindness, and Jay Parini agreed to do so. Jay had a vehicle and Borges asked him if he could tour the Highlands of Scotland with him. Borge was excited to see the places there. “Just to read the map of the Highlands is to recite poetry,” Borges said. “Take me around Scotland. I want to see the Highlands.”

“But you are blind, Borges.”

Borges responded with another question, “Are you blind, too?”

 Parini replied that he was not blind, so Borges responded that he would be his eyes and that they would discover that wonderland together. Borges referred to him as “Giuseppe” because of the poet Giuseppe Parini.

 “We must take the plunge. What we discover, as within any labyrinth, will always be ourselves. Wherever you go, Giuseppe, there is Giuseppe. I go where Borges goes.”

  Off they went on their amazing adventures through Scotland. Every conversation and encounter they had was entertaining and even thought-provoking. Borges had an irresistible sense of humor, and he offered whimsical insights and literary references in the most unexpected situations. The emotional rollercoaster of Jay Parini falling in love with a woman in St. Andrews adds more to the tension and intrigue of this memoir in which Jay Parini discovers that he has a lot in common with Jorge Luis Borges, and sharing their life experiences connects them in mysterious ways.

  It was sad to finish this book. I wanted to stay with these characters, to keep listening to their quaint conversations. I could not get enough of Borges’s wit and eccentricities. Besides, their literary exchanges, which were rooted to their historical context, continue to have relevance in today’s conflicts and social and political situations. It has been truly magical to find this book, and I highly recommend it.

  For Parini, meeting Borges was a life transforming experience, “Our encounter lasted a week or so, but it forced a shift in me, a change of perspective, hitting me at just the right time. And all I knew for sure was that my way of being in the world was never quite the same after Borges.”

  It made me think about how an interaction with somebody can touch and transform us in so many ways when one is open to that change.   

  I marveled at the way Borges navigated his blindness. The richness of his inner world made up for the lack of eyesight. “Like Crusoe, I wished to isolate myself on a remote island, but one must be careful, as they say, of what one wishes for. Blindness is my very own island.” Literature is perhaps the bridge to paths of understanding and meaningful connections, and his fascination for libraries is something that I share with him.

  Borges carried inside himself the sensations of every place he had been to, the stories and poems of every book he had read, the reflections of life experiences and even the frustrations that take a toll on the soul but never stop oneself from moving forward. His inner world manifested in the vibrant memory of what he had seen, read and experienced. He made me laugh a lot throughout this story, and I confess that I wept a couple of times with Borges and Me: at the beginning and close to the end.

   I entered the book with overwhelming curiosity, and I ended it as if floating in a cloud of melancholy, immersed in a sense of longing and intrigued by embers of hope. The night I finished it, my mind was loaded with the vivid landscapes of Scotland and the musical rhythm of the Scottish dance lessons of my childhood, images flashing like lightning, buoying me up in my own world of night dreams.

   I will keep this book to return to it. It continues to haunt me. There is also a book by Borges in my book shelf that I haven’t read yet. It will be part of my list this year.

    

 

 

Addicted to Growth: Societal Therapy for a Sustainable Wellbeing Future by Robert Costanza

                                     

  Two years before he was born, Robert Costanza’s mother lost her baby when she was six months pregnant. It happened in the year 1948 in Donora, Pennsylvania, with the Donora Smog, an environmental disaster that helped to raise awareness on the dangers of air pollution.

 The incident led to 20 immediate deaths in October, 1948, and another 50 deaths took place within the following month. Respiratory problems affected a large fraction of the population. Robert’s mother lost her baby after she got sick with pleurisy and pneumonia.

  This environmental disaster and the unregulated industrial emissions and car exhaust in big cities like Los Angeles and New York sparked an outcry that led to the creation of the Clean Air Act in 1968. Yet these changes were not followed by any long-term plan to build a sustainable economy.

   How can we develop an economy that is not about providing short-term benefits but that evolves to develop a creative plan to address the issues the system perpetuates consistently? These issues are climate and environmental disruption, biodiversity loss, financial instability, inequality and eroding democracies.

    Robert Costanza argues that the GDP or Gross Domestic Product should not be used as an indicator of a healthy economy. Every country uses GDP to assess the health of the economy. The use of the GDP dominates policy goals and consumerism. Yet the GDP is misleading. He explains this thoroughly in his book Addicted to Growth.

 To understand the limited value of the GDP, take a moment to reflect on the true goal of the economy.

       What is the goal of the economy?

 Robert Costanza states that the economy should sustainably improve human wellbeing, and he reminds us that the quality of human life is interdependent with the quality of all life on the planet. On the other hand, what happens when humans are at the service of the economy? What happens if the economy grows at all costs by exploiting the environment, compromising physical and mental human health and causing the extinction of multiple species?

  According to Robert Costanza, "we are trapped in an addictive pattern of behaviors called social traps, or societal addictions, that provide short-term rewards but are detrimental and unsustainable in the long run.” 

 I would argue that it is detrimental right now if you consider the current effects of the climate crisis as I write these words.

  Robert Costanza’s reflections and facts encourage us to get together to create a vision of the kind of world we want. He also sets the strategies to face the addiction through something called Motivational Interviewing (MI), a non-judgmental approach that is based on fostering a positive vision. He describes the elements of the motivational interviewing technique in detail and I highly recommend this chapter. It has the potential to kindle conversations that may help us find common ground with others, and to work toward a shared vision of the future.

Overcoming an addiction

  “It is rarely effective to confront addicts concerning the damage they are causing to themselves and to others.” Denial is the most likely response when an addict is confronted. For this reason, an introspective read of the MI and the application of these elements in different settings may help create a path of understanding and hope.

 The fossil-fueled economic growth and the “economic growth at all costs” model are important aspects of this societal addiction. We must address it in constructive ways. To do this, Robert Costanza invites us to review how we dealt with societal addictions before. For example, he refers to slavery and tobacco as forms of societal addictions.

  How did societies overcome past addictions? He cites the example of slavery in the United States of America as a form of addiction. The American South wanted the profits of slavery, so they refused to abolish it. Even after slavery ended, it took one hundred years for the Civil Rights Movement to take place, and we are still dealing with the aftermath of slavery.

  Tobacco is another example of a societal addiction. Despite the clear evidence of the effects of tobacco on human health, it took fifty years to reduce smoking rates by fifty percent. Why did it take so long?

 

 “It took 50 years for smoking rates to halve in the face of tobacco companies seeking to lobby governments and muddy the waters of scientific evidence. Advocacy, policies, and education can work but in the face of determined opposition it can take a long time.”

  Like the tobacco industry, the fossil fuel industry knew about the dangers in using their products. They were well aware of the links with climate change and the consequences of spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but they used the strategies of the tobacco industry. They invested in ongoing disinformation campaigns and political lobbying to prevent change.  Robert Costanza makes it clear: “In fact, both the tobacco and fossil fuel industries used many of the same scientists, publicists and advertising firms to downplay the dangerous impacts of their products. Both industries continue to work like drug dealers concerned with their own interests by preventing the addiction from being recognized and overcome.”

 On why I read this book by Robert Costanza

  When I read the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I became intrigued to learn more about ecological economics, so I researched information on the topic and I came across the works of Robert Costanza. I borrowed his book from the library.

  Robert Costanza is Professor of Ecological Economics at the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) at University College London (UCL). He is the 2024 winner of the Blue Planet Prize. His work brought global attention to the previously understated importance of ecosystem services. As a co-founder of ecological economics, a new field of study that recognizes that the economy is embedded in society and a finite biosphere, Professor Costanza advocates for an ecologically sustainable wellbeing society. You can learn more about his work by visiting his website:

https://www.robertcostanza.com/

 

 Conclusion

  If you don’t have time to read the whole book, go to chapter 5 and read pages 102, 111 and 112. I hope this will help you to broaden your perspective on the subject and to set new expectations. I would like to ask Robert Costanza what the universities are doing to integrate ecological economics into mainstream economics.

  Finally, Chapter 6 of Addicted to Growth provides a variety of practical ways through which people and countries are already working to build a sustainable, healthy future in harmony with the environment.  We can all be part of this movement to embody the vision and policies that foster the development of sustainable, healthy, happy and fair societies, so I hope I inspired you to you explore his book. Hopefully, Addicted to Growth: Societal Therapy for a Sustainable Wellbeing Future will be shared in high schools and universities. I strongly encourage educators to read it and share it.

  A world of peaceful, healthy coexistence is possible when we create the medium and mindsets to make it possible.  

 

 Relevant links:

https://sph.emory.edu/about/communications/health-wanted/show-notes/episode-fifteen-smoking/index.html

 

https://commonhome.georgetown.edu/topics/climateenergy/defense-denial-and-disinformation-uncovering-the-oil-industrys-early-knowledge-of-climate-change/

 

https://www.greattransition.org/publication/farming-for-a-small-planet

 

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/11/wildfires-los-angeles-climate-crisis-john-vaillant

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22012025/trump-executive-orders-have-advocates-across-the-nation-on-edge/

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check my writing on Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Photo by Sebastian Gabriel. Source: unsplash.com

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

 

 “What more could anyone ask from a new year than the promise –or just the hope—of renewal?” Margaret Renkl.

  I dare say that hope is not enough. Hope is in desperate need of awareness, reflection and inspiration to make sustainable, empathic choices.

  I was drawn into Margaret Renkl’s world when I learned about her interest in rescueing a sick fox. Margaret Renkl lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she has formed a close bond with the wildlife on her backyard by observing her surroundings.

  The sick fox was probably suffering from mange. Margaret explains that mange is common in suburban foxes because the “manicured” gardens deprive foxes of the sources of food they need to survive. Under normal, healthy conditions foxes’ immune systems may be able to fight off the mites that cause mange, but suburban foxes suffer the consequences of the use of poisons that people use in their gardens. “Manicured” lawns use different poisons, and Margaret Renkl elucidates it in simple terms:

 “Homeowners set out poisons that keep seeds of weeds from germinating. Then they spray a different poison that kills any plants that germinate anyway. Still another poison kills the insects that eat the “desirable” plants. Yet another kills the field mice trying to survive in a place without fields.

“And those poisons end up in the air and the water. They end up in our bodies, linked to asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, and several cancers.” She is distraught to watch the consequences of bluebirds ingesting poisoned insects, and Cooper’s hawks eating those bluebirds.

  I am thankful for this book, for it conveys the information that can make a difference in our communities.

  Over the years I've tried to communicate her message in several ways to different people, but to no avail. I witnessed a massive increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides recently.

  I used to relish the visit of various kinds of bees on the wildflowers in my pollinator garden, and I wrote about bees a few times here. Then in the year 2024 I hardly saw any bees in my garden. It was a lonely experience.

  I contacted a professor of entomology from a reputable university. I was sent multiple scientific papers, which validate my concerns and support the content of My Writing life blog. I have used several books at My Writing Life blog: Awareness, reflection, Inspiration to motivate people to do the right thing, but it has not been enough.

   I still come across the fake “pollinator gardens” with pesticides on the lawn. It is necessary to communicate the message with clarity: a pollinator garden with pesticides on its lawn is NOT a pollinator garden. Pesticides take a toll on the health of pollinators, so let people know that by using pesticides on their lawn they are not creating a pollinator garden. They are doing just the opposite.

  What is not to like about the graceful flight of a monarch butterfly visiting our backyards?

 

  I am thrilled when I come across a toad in the safe haven of our garden. We don’t spray herbicides and pesticides in our yard. In refraining from spraying poisons, we create a little forest of hope in our tiny corner of Mother Earth.

 I could spend hours appreciating the masterpiece of patterns and colors that Mother Nature put together in this toad’s skin…I had never seen a toad like this one before, so I took this photo. Strangely enough, this toad has the smooth skin of a frog. I am enchanted by the beauty and mystery of this amphibian.  

  Did you know that toads can feed on thousands of mosquitoes every summer? Yes, they do eat a variety of insects, and mosquitoes are included in their menu. We don’t have to poison the toads. They are very sensitive to the chemicals humans use in their gardens. We need the toads to do what they are expected to do in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystems where we can all thrive without poisoning our water, air and soil.  

  With climate change getting worse, no repellent will be able to deal with the consequences of the proliferation of mosquitoes. Diseases such as Dengue and West Nile encephalitis, which are transmitted by mosquitoes, are rising steadily.

  Mosquitoes are part of the source of food for toads and spiders, and we need toads and spiders in the web of life, but the use of pesticides and herbicides are destroying their lives, and, in the process, we are suffering the consequences of this lack of judgment. The bats are also in need of protection, and I explained this before here.

  The gist of The Comfort of Crows

 The Comfort of Crows is akin to a personal journal in which Margaret Renkl shares her connection with wildlife and her concerns over what we humans are doing to the environment and to ourselves. There are threads of her personal life interwoven into her narrative, but the charm of her book lies in her observations of wildlife and her response to her setting. In other words, she shares her poetical musings and the practical ways in which she tries to support what remains amid the destruction caused by irrationality, denial and neglect.

  The limitations of her actions did not stop Margaret Renkl from making choices that leave sparks of hope for the reader.  

   She contemplates the wonders of the four seasons, marveling at the lives of the creatures that surround her. She also shares the grief that emerges from watching nature closely. The effects of climate change and the multiple poisons that people use in their “manicured” gardens are evident.

   I think we should start calling them gardens of death or doom instead of using the word “manicured” gardens to refer to the abuse of such chemicals.

    It was also heartbreaking to read about the loss of some of the trees in her own garden, which took place after the happily married couple next to her backyard died. The builders came with their equipment and harmed the roots of her own old trees.

  As you know, the roots of trees do not understand anything about property lines, so the parts of the roots that were harmed in her neighbors’ home killed her trees altogether.

  The thoughtless actions of these builders could be used as a metaphor and a symbol of the lack of awareness and empathy in certain human behaviors.

 

Trees are not just trees

   Trees provide the oxygen we need to survive. They provide relief from the intense summer heat and protect the soil from erosion. Trees are not just trees, but they are also the organisms that live in them. Furthermore, trees supply the dead leaves that feed the soil, the leaves that form the shelter on the ground to various living beings belonging to complex ecosystems that support our own life on earth, and all these creatures play necessary roles in the precious web of life. You may not see them, but they are there and they need those dead leaves on the ground.  

 

 

  Using mathematics to spark awareness

   You will encounter people who don’t understand that destroying the environment is bad for the economy. I come across them often. We are responsible for helping them understand that supporting the health of ecosystems makes our economies stronger, and we have to make clear that destroying ecosystems is shattering economies across the world. To do so, we can use the power of mathematics. I can give a few examples here:

   A single bat can eat 3,000 insects in one night. Bats contribute one million dollars a year to Thailand’s economy by helping to reduce the loss of rice crops. In the United States of America, bats save three billion dollars every year by protecting corn and cotton crops. In addition to being pollinators, bats’ droppings are effective fertilizers. Poisoning their sources of food is a very bad idea.

  More than 80 percent of the leading 115 major crop species worldwide depend on or partially benefit from floral visitation by animal pollinators. Pollination by animals contribute to an estimated 35 percent of global total crop production. Globally, the animal value of insect pollination of plants was estimated to be around 190.5 billion U.S. dollars.

  In addition to addressing the massive use of pesticides and herbicides, we have to acknowledge and tackle the climate crisis. Climate change will continue to increase the price of food. In 2023 extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and floods were the main disruptors of food prices, even though the mainstream media has failed to report this critical issue consistently. These events caused widespread damage to crops and livestock globally.

 Rice, for example, cannot get efficiently self-pollinated in hotter temperatures. Extreme heat degrades the grain quality and reduces its yield.

 Severe weather patterns degrade the quality of our produce. Heat waves scorch fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects the micronutrient content of produce.  The elevated levels of carbon dioxide led to a decrease in the root uptake of nutrients by the plants according to research. A decline in the content of minerals in the plants, such as zinc, potassium, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and copper due to high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been well documented.

 Severe weather events are expensive reasons for crop loss: for example, 118.7 billion dollars in 2021-2022 were lost in crops value.

  In the year 2024, 500 billion dollars were lost in damages in the United States of America due to extreme weather events according to a report by AccuWeather. To understand how disaster events are on the rise, it may be helpful to check the graph from this link of Yale Connections:

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/01/u-s-billion-dollar-weather-disasters-set-an-all-time-record-in-2023-with-28/

 

 The artworks in this post and my final message

   I have shared some of the delightful artworks included in the book. The artist who created the masterpieces is Billy Renkl, Margaret’s brother.

   I will close this post with a quote by Margaret Renkl, because it summarizes what she tries to communicate in The Comfort of Crows:

     “I rejoice in what is eternal, even as I force myself to face what is not, to let my heart be broken again and again and again. The very least I owe my wild neighbors is a willingness to witness their struggle, to compensate for their losses in every way I can, and to speak on their behalf about all the ways I can’t.”

Here’s a video about the differences between toads and frogs and how you can protect them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF0EWfbevrM

 I also invite you to learn about Dr. Tyrone Hayes's story:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-Bvp2oOyQ

 Feel free to share this blog post with your friends. Let’s create ripples of hope and positive changes for the New Year.

 

 Photo of fox is by Scott Walsh. Source: Unsplash.com

    Relevant links:

https://xerces.org/press/new-report-finds-that-bumble-bees-have-undergone-dramatic-declines

https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/pollination-loss-removes-healthy-foods-from-global-diets-increases-chronic-diseases-causing-excess-deaths/

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/03/we-need-to-talk-about-food-prices/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8803495/

 https://www.beyondpesticides.org

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/26/us-farmers-embracing-wildflowers-prairie-strips-erosion-pollinators

 

If you enjoyed this blog post, feel free to check my writing on the following books:

 Sweet in Tooth and Claw by Kristin Ohlson

What a Bee Knows by Stephen Buchmann

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid by Thor Hanson

Volcanic Adventures in Tonga by Ann Goth

Addendum: after consulting an expert in amphibians, I learned that my photo shows a Gray Treefrog. (I suspected it could be a kind of frog and I was correct).