Chaque Mardi est 'Mardi Gras' Quand Vous Etes Une Baleine
Last night I read 'Tuesdays With Morrie', which had been on my mental reading list for many months, since I started working at the store. It had passed through my hands many dozens of times already, selling it to other people or stocking shelves with new copies. I hope those people felt as much from reading it as I did - the girl I was working with last night, who had read the book herself, said it was too touchy-feely for her; exact words. But maybe this book is for a certain kind of person, who craves to learn about human beings, sort of about spirituality, and who clings to the book's repeated mantra "love each other or perish," a quote from W.H. Auden, Morrie's favourite poet. The book lives in the biography section, which helps it feel more real, more meaningful than if it had been completely invented, though I'm not sure whether it should. But it really got to me, as truly few do, because it made me think about what we value in life and why, and how our culture teaches us to chase beauty, youth, and commodities, when what we really need are love, intimacy, and the wisdom that can only come with experience and age. We confuse what we need with what we want, and our media which consumes our society propogates just that.
The book says a lot of things that have been said before, and which in a different context might therefore seem cliché - but I hope that if you read it, you don't for a moment think this, because for me the thoughts of this book bring to mind new ideas and hopes, not rehashed garbage, and also because I couldn't possibly have such a negative moniker tattoed to words which I believe are so important to hear.
If you are a reader, which judging from your current state you are, I absolutely suggest that you read 'Tuesdays With Morrie'. It's less than intimidating to either your time or your wallet, running under two-hundred pages and ten dollars. I might even lend it to you to read, if you ask nicely. That's how badly I want to share this refreshing perpective on life and death.
Thank you,
Laura-lei