Gift from the Sea

In a conversation with Reese Witherspoon, Melinda Gates mentioned the impact this book had on her life, and I ran to get a copy.

In 1955, Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote down her musings on youth and age while taking two weeks away from her husband, five children, and busy life to live in a sparse cottage on the beach in Florida.

She eloquently describes the shifting sands of womanhood and motherhood, the transitions of marital relations through the years, and the effects of modern society on our sense of self. In this book, I learned a new German term that perfectly encapsulates most women's lives: Zerrissenheit, which means "torn-to-pieces-hood." In honor of the end of summer and the hope that I can be intentional in where I spend my time as fall sets in and busyness reaches a fever pitch, I present and am forever grateful for this book.

If there is one book I have read in the last decade that I want to share with every woman I know, it's this one.

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