What the Moon Shell Says

I’m interrupting my exhaustive travelogue for the Summer Book Club hosted by Lesley at The Bower.

This week’s chapter of Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh is Moon Shell and the proposal that replenishing our solitude feeds our soul.

Graphic purchased from The Vintage Workshop; modified by me

I’ve made a reminder calendar for myself so I don’t miss book club readings and subsequent postings about each chapter. You’re welcome to use it; just click to enlarge and print.


Graphic purchased from The Vintage Workshop; modified by me

Anne Morrow Lindbergh writes, “Solitude, says the moon shell…[a] new way of inward living.” This turning inward and finding balance at the core of my being will revivify my soul. After reading this chapter, I think she’s right.

There’s much in Ms. Lindbergh’s writing that resonates with me. My tendency to engage “in the fervish pursuit of centrifugal activities which only lead in the end to fragmentation” often has me feeling that same sense of “Zerrissenheit—torn-to-pieces-hood” the author describes. I frequently want to withdraw, do absolutely nothing, and be left alone which I previously considered unhealthy and took great pains to prevent.



It seems, however, that my inner self is right—if I’d only listen, but I don’t. As a result, I’ve allowed my inner resources to be drained which I didn’t realize until reflecting on this passage:

“Solitude alone is not the answer; it is only a step toward it…The problem is more how to still the soul in the midst of its activities. In fact, the problem is how to feed the soul.”

That, right there, is what I forget over and over again. The moon shell urges the need to turn inward and spend time with oneself which, in turn, replenishes our very essence, thus feeding our soul.

And the spiral inherent in the shell’s design moves not only inward but outward as well. Nurturing strength within myself first best equips me for giving to others later.

Everyone has a place in the world they find spiritual. For me, it’s the sea with its waves washing ashore carrying all of divinity to us—a reiteration of the spiral concept. That’s a notion I can carry inside me even when I cannot be there. And maybe with a moon shell in my pocket, I will remember to take time each and every day to replenish my solitude and subsequently feed my soul.



Shhh!

“Solitude, says the moon shell.”

I’m listening.