Traveling provides opportunities to read for long stretches of time. At home, there is always more to do. Not so on a plane or train.
I choose my travel books carefully, knowing that on trips, my mind is open to processing information in a new way. And I will likely finish at least one book cover to cover.
On our recent trip to France and Germany to visit friends and family, I chose a book by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, called “Traveling with Pomegranates”. I ordered it from our neighborhood indie bookstore and it came just in time.
Yes, I chose a travel book for my travel book. Another trip, about fifteen years ago, I also chose a travel book. That trip became a quest for me and I wrote a book about it, a travel book, called “Unpacking Guilt: A Mother’s Journey to Freedom”. It seems that traveling and travel books factor big in my life.
On our recent trip, I had not considered making it a quest like the one mentioned above, but nonetheless, it became one. By reading the “Traveling with Pomegranates” book about a mother and daughter’s journey to sacred feminine sites in Europe, I could not help but look at my relationship to the divine feminine.
The mother in the duo was exploring how it is to be an aging woman in a society that undervalues the inner gifts that blossom with age while the outer gifts are fading. Simulataneously, the daughter was exploring her relationship to self as well as finding a partner, a career, and becoming a mother.
As it so happens, I am in the midst of publishing a book about the benefits of aging and becoming a wise woman which were revealed to me when I became a grandmother. And yes, for me to become a grandmother, our daughter had to become a mother.
And like the women in the book, our viewpoints are different, based on both our individuality and the time of life we are experiencing.
So, I thought about aging on our trip. Somehow, in addition to the book I could not avoid the topic since we flew into Paris. That’s where I spent a year studying (in the broadest sense) during a college semester that turned into two semesters abroad. Paris introduced me to a lifestyle, a way of being in the world that I embraced. To my younger self, experiencing the world beyond my hometown of Buffalo, Paris felt much like home to me.
Then again, to my senior self, I appreciated it anew. I really love the food, style, language, and “je ne sais quoi” about Paris. I realized on this trip when we went to Provence, my love of Paris extends to the rest of the country as well. France may be my favorite country; the culture resonates with me.
Although I am no longer the young woman who first discovered France, that woman still lives inside of me. It is true that an aging woman gains more aspects of selfhood while still retaining ones from the past.
The divine feminine grows within us when we nurture ourselves, our inner being, our desires, relationships, while paying attention to the synchronicities which happen when we are in the flow of life. While in Germany visiting my husband’s family, I spoke with a grand-neice about the idea for a book that came to me when she was visiting us in Buffalo several years ago.
I had thought of the idea as hers and so the book would be hers to write. Yet, two things came together one evening when we gathered for an amazing party with family. When I brought up the book idea, she commented that I should write it! True, I am a writer, but I write nonfiction and this idea was for a story that is historic fiction.
It never occurred to me that I could write fiction. I did not know where to begin. As it happens, in the nonfiction book I was reading, the author describes how she became a fiction writer. Many of you have probably read, “The Secret Life of Bees” which was Sue Monk Kidd’s first and wildely successful foray into fiction.
In “Traveling with Pomegranates”, Kidd describes how she chose her characters and crafted the story. While traveling, she took photographs which she printed and posted on a board. That gave her a physical description of the characters who then came alive in her consciousness.
The story arose from the quest to experience the divine feminine and came to her in bits and pieces. It took her awhile to craft the story and become a fiction writer but I suggest as will many readers, that it was worth the effort.
This summer, I will launch a new book, and although I did not imagine another project, I have now found one or your could say, it found me. It takes place in a historic site in Buffalo, the main character is based on my grand-neice, and the story highlights women and mental health.
I am excited to dive into this project which will involve a lot of research as well as imaginative thinking. As we were leaving my sister-in-law’s home near the end of our trip, our grand-neice was passing by on her way home from school so I took her picture. It will go on my story board. As my brother-in-law says, “writers never retire”. Frankly, I cannot picture a better way to keep my mental functioning sharp and lend purpose to my days.
Yes, books are great travel companions. Reading “Traveling with Pomegranates” brought depth and meaning to our recent travels. It connected me with an author, her ideas, and a broader possibility for the trip, which would also impact my work and my relationship to my self while aging.
When we are traveling, I may find that I forgot to pack some things, but if I have a travel book, I am prepared.
For anything else I might need, you might be able to convince me to go shopping in Paris.
