I spent a lot of the last couple of months reading. I found a blog or two I liked, and through those, found more. And through these connections, I found websites of others who love both reading and writing. One post struck a chord: about Louisa May Alcott, writer of Little Women.
Little Women is a classic. The title may now not have the same resonance as it did when it was written – but this is a story of four sisters growing up. Their father is away in the war at the start of the story; the mother (Marmee) is holding everything together but still encouraging her girls to find their individual path in life.
Most of us love Jo, the headstrong second daughter. In her, I found an ally – someone who loves books, loves writing, and tries to make a way for herself in the world through it. Jo makes mistakes, she avoids housework yet gives in to it when needs must – she is real, and familiar to us in so many ways.
One of my abiding reading memories is of the early description of Jo, up in the attic, reading and reading, eating her way through a box of apples while she does, and crying at points over some of the stories. I love the abandonment to words, being prepared to go where the story takes her – and the value of food alongside the reading process.
I think part of me has always wanted to write. So when I found characters like Jo who were immersed in words, who tried their hand at writing, I felt encouraged. Even though Jo in time finds a different path (and I won’t say what, for those who haven’t read the book), you feel sure that books and words are still valued in it.
Back to the post about Louisa May Alcott. I discovered that she and her family were unusual in their choices, their focus in life. Behind the story of Little Women, which offers various ways to develop into yourself as a woman, was an even more unusual life that formed the book – and its sequels.
But in discovering about Louisa May Alcott, I also chanced upon a writer in the person who told me about her life – one whose own site is full of a love affair with words, worked out in various ways.
More recently, on the same site, which has guest posts by a range of writers, I’ve encountered another blogger who is also keen on writing, and writes about writing – and reading – and encouraging others in both. I look forward to exploring more of these two blogs, and the stories of the writers behind them.
Wherever we are in our own musings on where life is heading, it is great to find soulmates along the way. Even if their path differs from ours, even if the way their talents are worked out is different – they still care about the same things. And they take the time to express that – in a way that celebrates the craft of writing and the sheer love of reading.
I suspect all three of us love the spiky yet honest-hearted Jo, as so many others still do. And, through Jo, and other reading-and-writing characters, we go on to find our own words, and our own way, in the world. We are better for knowing there are companions in our journey – wherever it is we come across them.