Get To Know Yourself

Here’s an exercise I hope my readers will try: make a list of your favorite books and their authors. You may be surprised by what happens.

I’ve spent most of this hot Sunday afternoon making such a list. I started by letting my mind wander freely in response to these questions:

Which books remain vivid in memory?

Which have powerfully influenced the course of my values, pursuits, and choices? Which books have opened my eyes to reality?

Which have provided the most valuable information?

What sort of characters do I identify with?

Which characters most inspire me?

Through that process I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned that I’m drawn to read about the American West and the American South from Biloxi west. I know that I love the stories of women pioneers and their struggle to survive, and in general admire stories of strong women and their life experiences. The natural sciences exert a strong pull on me, particularly botany, biology, anthropology, and geology. I seek skills and information about the material world and how we perceive it. I love a good mystery, perhaps because I know it will end with good triumphing over evil.

Notable by their absence from my list are books written from the male point of view, those set in large cities (except for New Orleans and London), biographies, nonfictional history, and religion.

My book list is still evolving, and my self-understanding along with it. 

Photo of the Day

Self-seeded prairie larkspur appeared in the neglected flower bed below our deck and is spreading in a drift of blue down the hillside toward Chicken Creek.

  

Copyright 2015 by Shirley Domer