NOURISHMENT 2023

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Books:

Courting the Wild Twin by Martin Shaw

Interestingly, my four year old daughter’s fixation on princesses this year brought me here. Her fervent desire to be like them; dress like them, sing like them (the Disney versions have leaked into our household from the outside culture, I had not noticed until now that their faces are on products everywhere- ugh) has elicited an equally strong distaste in me for them, and one of the first times in parenting where I have found myself projecting what I want her to love (How did this happen?! She goes to a forest school, dangit!) versus letting her love what she loves (currently fluffy princess gowns and crowns).  Despite my reluctance to buy the gowns and crowns, I have been resolute in encouraging her to explore deeply anything she is attracted to.  So I’ve been offering her alternatives to the thin-waisted high-heeled Disney version of princesses. We devoured Wanda Gág’s Tales From Grimm, bought Paul Zelinsky’s rapturous version of Rapunzel, and took out unusual (and incredibly illustrated) fairy tale books like The Magic Nesting Doll and even Cinders, a Chicken Cinderella.  Sensing the deep primeval magic and human truths underlying the fairy tales and hungry to learn more about what they mean, I sniffed out Robert Bly and Martin Shaw, two modern mythologist greats.  I feasted on Courting the Wild Twin and the two fairy tales Shaw retells and unpacks in this small volume.  

Smoke Hole: Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass by Martin Shaw

After gobbling up Courting the Wild Twin I quickly turned to Smoke Hole, and it did not disappoint.  This book woke something up in me, reifying my belief in the great and ancient power of stories to guide our lives.  With dangerously few guiding stories, we modern humans (in the West at least) are like rudderless boats at sea, at the whim of the winds, or worse, corrupt sea captains (capitalism and colonialism) steering us in the wrong direction.  As stated in his book description, “Shaw asks us to recognize mythology as a secret weapon—a radical, beautiful, heart-shuddering agent of deep, lasting change.” 

Small Animals: Parenting in the Age of Fear by Kim Brooks

Do you remember playing outside unsupervised with a pack of neighborhood kids growing up? Do you feel like you had more independence as a child than today’s children are allowed? Me too.  After author Kim Brooks leaves her child in the car for 5 minutes while running into a store and returns to find that the police have been called on her, she explores all aspects of raising kids at a time when everything is sacrificed at the altar of “safety,” even when the perceived danger is virtually non-existent.  Our fears as parents stunt the development of the valuable and vital traits we hope to imbue in our children: self-confidence, independence, good decision-making, and more.  I stumbled upon this book at the library and I’m so glad I did.  It put words and context to my experience as a parent of young children in this culture. I recommend it to not only caregivers of children and teens, but also anyone interested in contemplating the Age of Fear we live in.

The Beauty of Everyday Things by Soetsu Yanagi

Another treasure on the marriage of Japanese aesthetics and philosophy to compliment two other favorites on my shelf: In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren.  I return to these books again and again to meditate on imperfection as a practice to embrace, to give gratitude to the objects that dutifully serve me in everyday life, to celebrate simplicity, and to surround myself with beautifully-made objects that have meaning. 

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

What do the body and heart remember that the mind does not? In The Seed Keeper, we witness a kind of knowing passed down through the ancestors, dormant but alive in us like latent seeds. In this quiet, if somber, novel, Wilson explores the inner world of a Dakota woman, the last in her family line, who marries a White farmer.  With a captivating and timely plot, plus nuggets of wisdom throughout, The Seed Keeper is a moving novel I’m glad to have read this year. 

If You Want to Write; A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland

For anyone who has ever considered writing but feels like they’re no good at it, this book will prove your worth.  Ueland’s words of encouragement echo across the decades (this book was written in 1938) as she implores us each to find our voice by showing up at our desk again and again.  This is a quick read that left me feeling motivated.

Worn: A People’s History of Clothing by Sofi Thanhauser

I have to admit I didn’t read this book cover to cover (yet?), but I’m really excited to have it in my library of textile books as an indispensable resource.  Thanhauser’s deep dive into the social histories of the materials that make up our clothing is unmatched.

The Carrying and The Hurting Kind - Two poetry books by Ada Limón

There’s actually not much I will say here.  Limón is Poet Laureate for a reason. What a joy to discover her work this year.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

An epic novel chronicling the journeys of three families as they intertwine through 20th-century India, navigating the brutal caste system, the government’s “solutions” for devastating poverty as well as the power of friendship, family and perseverance – it is a beautiful testimony to the resilience and beauty of the human spirit.  I laughed, I cried, I grew to care deeply for the characters that Mistry developed.  I couldn’t put this book down.

Take Off Your Glasses and See by Jacob Liberman, O.D., Ph.D,  and The Dental Diet by Dr. Stephan Lin 

I’ve recently gone down a very interesting rabbit hole exploring the power of the mind in healing and the possibility that our bodies are much more capable of regeneration and healing than we give credit to.  Both of these books explore the possibility of helping our bodies heal themselves from ailments I previously thought were irreversible – poor eyesight and dental degradation.  Expanding my mind to new possibilities for healing and allowing myself to realize what I thought I knew may be wrong (or at least incomplete) has revealing my own biases and where I place my blind-trust.  For anyone who is curious and open-minded.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

An old beat up copy of this book was handed down to me from a good friend and since then has quietly sat on my shelf, unread.  Then, one evening, it called out to be read – it was time!  And oh, what joy this story brought me!  Yes, it is about a crew of anthropomorphized male rabbits who leave the safety of their (imminently endangered) home to venture into the (great unknown) world around them and find a new home…but the robust characters and their rabbit-culture (including stories that make up their “rabbit-lore”) are so well crafted that I was totally in love.  Reading this book had me pondering the possible inner-workings of all sorts of small, “ordinary” animals well after finishing the book.

You Can’t Kill Snow White by Beatrice Alemagna

A new picture book from one of our favorite publishers -- Enchanted Lion.  They have started a new imprint for older children’s books, aptly named “Unruly”, acknowledging that children’s books can be appreciated by adults and explore more challenging and unusual topics.  You Can’t Kill Snow White is a beautiful oversized picture book that retells the tale from the evil stepmother’s point of view, vividly illustrating her overwhelming jealousy and the terror she inflicted on Snow White through gorgeous, wild, full-page paintings.  I love seeing the genre’s traditional parameters artfully disregarded – as an aspiring picture-book-writer/illustrator, Alemagna’s book sparked serious inspiration in me.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Children’s Books:

All & One by Elisa Gehin

Me & Mama by Cozbi Cabrera

Lumberjack by William Kurelek

Peck, Peck, Peck by Lucy Cousins

Little Witch Hazel by Phoebe Wahl

We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade

Ode to an Onion by Alexandria Giardino, illustrated by Felicita Sala

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Podcasts / Interviews / Substacks / Poems:

Martin Shaw interview on Sacred Sons podcast here

Charles Eisenstein on Earthshot podcast here

Tara Couture (aka Slowdown Farmstead): collection of excellent essays on “cultivating authenticity in a synthetic world. Ruminations on ancestral food, healthy living, family, connection to the natural world, life, death and this radical little thing called ‘sovereignty’.” Read her Substack here

“Follower”, a poem by Seamus Haney: here

“For the Eight-Year-Old in You”, an interview with writer Kate DiCamillo: here

“Loosen Loosen”, a most beautiful song/prayer by Aly Halpert: here

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Our ever-evolving Spotify playlist: Light in the New Dark Ages

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7wsqS6CkDQ9Itxtm7HhTtb?si=7cab72b948534267