I am reading a lovely book by my friend Debbie Tenzer,
called DO ONE NICE THING. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by all the suffering
in the world and felt powerless to do anything about it, this book will help change
all that.
Because there is something you can do. Even if you're as
busy as most people are in this crazy multi-tasking overly scheduled world.
Even if you don't have deep pockets.
From grocery shopping for a sick friend to organizing donations
of canned goods to a local food bank to making a $25 micro-loan that changes a
life in a remote part of the planet, there are dozens of accessible Nice Things
that you can do in this book.
So what does all this have to do with Jane Austen? Aside from the fact that in my world, everything has something to do with Jane Austen?
A lot, actually.
Jane Austen had plenty to say about everyday acts of
kindness towards our fellow humans. Ladies of Austen's class were expected to
care for the poor and relieve their sufferings through gifts of food, money,
and clothes, and through personal visits to needy families in the parish.
But that didn't mean one had to be a saint then--or today--in order to Do One Nice Thing. Nor
did one have to be a saint in Jane Austen's day. Consider the vain, deluded,
matchmaking-obsessed heroine of EMMA. Helping those in need is one of the
qualities that make her loveable in spite of her flaws:
Emma was very compassionate; and the distresses of the poor
were as sure of relief from her personal attention and kindness, her counsel
and her patience, as from her purse.
Even the relatively impoverished, disabled Mrs. Smith in PERSUASION
was making thread-cases that she sold in order to help those less fortunate
than she.
Contrast that with the selfishness of Elizabeth Elliot in
PERSUASION, who, upon hearing that her family is in debt and must make
reductions to its customary state of luxury, responds as follows:
Elizabeth, to do her justice, had, in the first ardour of
female alarm, set seriously to think what could be done, and had finally
proposed these two branches of economy, to cut off some unnecessary charities,
and to refrain from new furnishing the drawing-room.
In Jane Austen's world, kindness did not end with charitable
acts to one's neighbors. Care for the well-being of one's friends and family was
as essential then as it is today.Which is why the selfish and miserly John and Fanny Dashwood
of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY are comic figures as they debate John's deathbed
promise to his father to help provide for the dying man's widow and three
daughters.
Says Fanny Dashwood of the widow and children's financial
state:
"Five hundred a year! I am sure I cannot imagine how
they will spend half of it; and as to your giving them more, it is quite absurd
to think of it. They will be much more able to give you
something."
Despite Austen's skewering of the selfish and miserly, she
is always practical in her sensibilities. Take this line from Emma:
"If we feel for the wretched, enough to do all we can
for them, the rest is empty sympathy, only distressing to ourselves."
So stop distressing yourself and do something. Just DO ONE
NICE THING. Start here. Start now. You'll feel so much better. And more
important, you will spread happiness to others. And they to others. And so on.
Many people are surprised when I tell them that I grew up in a house with only a handful of books. Neither of my parents were readers—my mother has, in recent years become a voracious reader—but luckily back then there were three ways by which I was able to indulge my incessant need for books: the bookmobile that visited my neighborhood, the library bus that took me to my local public library, and my school library.
[Two kinds of bookmobiles: One from the Meridian Library in Meridian, Idaho; and the other from the Camel Book Drive in Kenya. For more information about the wonderful Camel Book Drive,* and to see how you can help, click here.
For me, the library was a magical place where smiling ladies handed me the keys to endless doors that opened onto exciting new worlds and infinite possibilities. Libraries were the place where I discovered the sanctuary of story. The wonder of imagination. The power of the word.
Were it not for libraries and librarians, I would not be who I am today. Which is why I will always be grateful to librarians, library support staff, and all the generous folks who support these sanctuaries and champions of reading.
And so I am particularly excited to be doing a reading and signing of RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT at Glendale Public Library. This is a particularly vibrant, exciting place with lots of community events and a dynamic staff whose mission is "to enrich life, foster literacy, inspire intellectual curiosity and stimulate the imagination."
And they're also a lot of fun.
So take a break from the heat and have a glass of iced tea with me at Glendale Public Library. I look forward to seeing you there!
Writers tend to be a tad on the obsessive side. A little too caught up in our own little worlds. After all, we sit at our desks immersed in stories that go on inside our heads. And sometimes it's easy to forget that there is actually a world full of other human beings out there. Which is why I like to unchain myself from my desk now and then and actually try to connect with other human beings. Maybe even spread some happiness around.
Recently I had the privilege of doing just that when I visited Macfarlane Park School for International Studies in Tampa, Florida, where my nephew Eli attends first grade. I read a story to his class, and all I can say is that if you are ever feeling disconnected, low, or sorry for your self, I have the cure. Call up your local elementary school and read a storybook to a room full of first-graders. You will rediscover all the childlike wonder and love of story that got you reading or writing in the first place.
These kids were so excited they could barely contain their energy. In fact, their teacher, a lovely young woman named Holly Madiedo, gave them a time-out in the middle of story time so they could shake out all that excess energy. She also showed me how she got the kids to start writing their own stories. First graders! Holly is an extraordinarily dedicated teacher, and what a privilege it was to meet her. Holly's also a dedicated writer, writes every day and who knows where she gets the energy after a day with those first-graders, but I've no doubt I will one day see her stories in print.
After saying good-bye to Ms. Madiedo's class, I headed over to Mrs. Nestor's fourth-grade class, where I talked about—of all things—having one's writing edited! Yes, these were fourth-graders. It seems they had just had their first experience having their writing commented on and edited by their wonderful teacher, and they were having a hard time dealing with the feedback. So I told them that it's not any different for adults like me and that the trick is to play the "what if" game. What if I did change that sentence the way my teacher/editor suggested it? What if I might actually like it? It doesn't hurt to try.
The kids loved hearing that adults go through the same things they do with their writing. And what questions they asked me! One little boy asked me what inspires me; another asked what I do when I don't know what to write. The answer to the first is everything around me if I open myself to it. The second is something I've talked about in my writing workshops, and that's having fun with being in the place of "I don't know." I don't know what's going to happen next in my story. I have no idea what to write. And isn't that great? Because I just KNOW that something wonderful is going to come to me. And you know what? It does.
So if you're feeling low about the world, your life, or the state of the economy, there is definitely something you can do. Read to a child. Even better—read to a classroom full of children. I can guarantee there are plenty of overworked, dedicated teachers who would love to have you visit their classroom and share your excitement about your love of books. And pass that on to a child.
There are even organizations that can help you get started, if you don't feel quite up to doing it on your own. Here's a wonderful organization that I participated in--Readingtokids.org. They're in the Los Angeles area. For an organization in your area, just do a Google search with the keywords "reading to kids" or "reading to children" and the name of your city, and I'm sure you'll come up with something perfect.
And by the way, it's never to young to start reading Jane Austen to kids. But that's the subject of another post to come...
