In May, I visited the estate of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of the Pulitzer-prize winning novel The Yearling. So very inspired by her way of life, I quickly delved into her memoir, Cross Creek, and was completely swept away. The inspiration I've taken from this book and this woman is multi-faceted. But above all else, it has moved me to return to writing. I'm working on my novel again, something that was beginning to grow dusty from neglect.
Just look at Rawlings' writing space... a simple table, chair & typewriter set out on her front porch, overlooking the grounds of her homestead in a Florida orange grove. She also kept a typewriter by her bed!
"Any grove or any wood is a fine thing to see. But the magic here, strangely, is not apparent from the road. It is necessary to leave the impersonal highway, to step inside the rusty gate and close it behind. By this, an act of faith is committed, through which one accepts blindly the communion cup of beauty. One is now inside the grove, out of one world and in the mysterious heart of another. Enchantment lies in different things for each of us. For me it is in this: to step out of the bright sunlight into the shade of orange trees; to walk under the arched canopy of their jadelike leaves... this is the essence of an ancient secret magic... after years of spiritual homelessness, of nostalgia, here is that mystic loveliness of childhood again. Here is home. An old thread, long tangled, comes straight again." - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Cross Creek
Just look at Rawlings' writing space... a simple table, chair & typewriter set out on her front porch, overlooking the grounds of her homestead in a Florida orange grove. She also kept a typewriter by her bed!
Even as a native Floridian, my visit to Rawlings' world - both physically and via her writings in Cross Creek - allowed me to see my environment with fresh eyes, and gently encouraged me to truly love and embrace the natural beauty it possesses.
Who's inspiring you right now?
"Any grove or any wood is a fine thing to see. But the magic here, strangely, is not apparent from the road. It is necessary to leave the impersonal highway, to step inside the rusty gate and close it behind. By this, an act of faith is committed, through which one accepts blindly the communion cup of beauty. One is now inside the grove, out of one world and in the mysterious heart of another. Enchantment lies in different things for each of us. For me it is in this: to step out of the bright sunlight into the shade of orange trees; to walk under the arched canopy of their jadelike leaves... this is the essence of an ancient secret magic... after years of spiritual homelessness, of nostalgia, here is that mystic loveliness of childhood again. Here is home. An old thread, long tangled, comes straight again." - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Cross Creek
2 comments:
what a beautiful quote you've shared... and a wonderful reminder that sometimes we have to step into the unknown to find real selves.
I love this post! That quote is so lovely!
Right now I am inspired by Shannon Hayes.
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