My Aiti gave me this book a couple of years ago for Christmas and I’m so glad (and a little embarrassed) that I finally got around to reading it. A super short read but one which has lasting effects. I had a hard time deciding whether it deserved four or five stars because I definitely felt amazed after I finished.
Mother, poet, and pilot Lindbergh wrote this during a brief vacation by the sea in 1955. In it she shares her meditations on finding contentment in each of the different stages of life (courtship, newly wed, young parents, empty-nesters, senior life) using sea shells as metaphors. Accept and embrace the ebbs and flows of life, Lindbergh advises. Find joy and peace in the here and now by seeking greater simplicity, re-finding yourself in solitude, and accepting intermittence in love and relationships.
I found the experience of reading this book paralleled its message – peaceful, tranquil, still. Even the sway and flow of the language is in keeping with the time and rhythm of the sea. Although it was written over 50 years ago, Gift from the Sea is full of timeless truths and has a Zen, new-agey feel to it that has forever changed the way I will think about life and the sea.
