Does the Universe Send
You Books?
Did you ever notice that at certain times in your life when
you may be struggling with a specific problem or are looking to get lost in
another world for a while that a book, (just like people) seems to appear at
the right time, for the right reason? Does that happen to everyone or am I
crazy? When I was a teenager, I was feeling really sad because my best friend
had moved far away to Colorado, (I was in Vermont) and I had a hard time
believing that I would ever be happy again. We had been best friends, inseparable
since first grade. She was my Christopher Robin and I was her Pooh or visa
versa. Right after she left, I remember my mother bringing me into a Barnes and
Noble one day and instead of heading to the Young Adult section, I remember
meandering aimlessly and finding the self-help section. I remember seeing a
very colorful book on the bottom shelf. It said it was by a woman named SARK. I scrolled through it and liked the writing style,
the colors and the writing that looked like the hand writing of a child and the
beautiful, inspirational messages. It made me smile, but I didn’t buy it that
day. I remember thinking that it seemed silly and, in a way, pathetic to buy a
self-help book. I thought, “I’m not that depressed.” That weekend my best
friend called me from Colorado
and said she missed me and asked how I was. I told her I missed her too and
that couldn’t stop being sad and she said, “Have you heard of a book called
Inspiration Sandwich or another called Creative Companion by a self-help lady
named SARK?” I was shocked and told her I had just seen it that week but didn’t
buy it and she told me, “You need to!!! It will make you feel better.” So I
did. I went out the next day and bought Inspiration Sandwich. I still have it,
(Pic below) SARK’s book came to me at the exact time that I needed it to and it
picked me up when I was feeling like I could never be anything but low.
Another time, when I was in college, my Grandmother was sick with Alzheimer’s. I was very depressed about it. It was hard to watch her deteriorate and I was angry that that was happening to her and I wondered why? I happened, that same year, to take a Sociology class about Aging and Dying and we read Tuesdays With Morrie. That book healed my heart and made me feel that my Nanny’s disease was sad, but there must have been a reason for her having it. That disease was her journey to take and I think the reason was that it taught my entire family about being patient and kind and it made us look at aging differently. When she first went into the nursing home, I was scared to go there and dreaded seeing her, but after reading Tuesdays With Morrie and taking the class, I lost that fear. By the end of my time at school I was able to visit her on my own and even feed her lunch by myself with no fear. In fact, I enjoyed having that one on one time with her and was very glad, after she was gone, that I had done that. Even though I knew she wouldn’t remember it. (Picture of Nanny & the book below, that’s me on the top right)
Later in graduate school, I had not written anything for a
very long time other than school papers. I was beginning to feel lost and not
like myself at all and I could not figure out why I was feeling that way.
Something in me felt like a piece of my puzzle was out of place but I didn’t
know what it was. Then one day my boss that I worked for at the college started
talking to one of the other girls about the new Harry Potter movie that was
coming out and how she was going to see it. They asked me if I had read Harry
Potter and I said, “umm no…isn’t that book for kids?” They were both shocked
and appalled and my boss said, “No!!! It’s absolutely not just for kids! It’s
fantastic! You need to read it.” I said, “Okay what ever you say.” Even though
I thought she was crazy. But then we had a school break and I happened to see
the first Harry Potter book sitting on a book shelf at my mother in law’s house
and I thought, oh well what the heck.
So I sat down and read the books. The Harry Potter books brought my imagination
and love of writing back. I had been missing it and didn’t even know it. But
once my imagination was stimulated again, I wanted to read more. I tried to
read a lot of fantasy stories over the next few years and only found a very
small handful of them that I really loved. One was The Pellenor books by Alison
Croggon. They too sparked my imagination and love for the written word. Not
long after, I sat down and started writing my own novel The Burden of Destiny,
which has brought me to where I am now. I am now four books into the series
with more to come and I am so happy to have my writing and my characters in my
life. (Pic below: my other inspirations)
I feel like the universe does a great job of sending me the
books that I need in my life right at the exact times that I need them. The
prior mentioned were only a few times this has happened in my life, there are
more. The universe does this with people too, it sends me people that I need at
certain times to teach me lessons or provide me with energy that lifts me up. I
keep hoping that the universe will keep this up because I always appreciate it.
And it is my hope and wish that my books will be the books that the universe
places in someone else’s lap when they need it too. I think that is every
author’s hope, that their books touch others in the way that they touch their
own hearts. What about you dear readers, what books have you read that stayed
with you and touched you at the perfect time? Until next time, keep reading and
remember, writing=happiness ;)).
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