My Inspiration: The Wonderful World at my Doorstep
In 2010 I was roaming around downtown Boston. It was November and the air was heavy with a cold chill but felt light with the gaiety of thanksgiving. Grabbing a latte coffee I meandered into the anonymity of a side lane . But in Boston even a cobblestone has a story to tell. Entering a shop selling old books I was excited on what worlds I would stumble upon. I don’t know why the book came to me. The expansive title ” The Wonderful World at My Doorstep” gently tattooed on the pliant depths of my heart.
Whilst in India I worked with Reebok shoes for a decade after completion of management in footwear technology. My pitcher of experience full with R and D and production and my bank balance a comfortable bulk I quit Reebok to form my handloom organization. In a colorful world of motifs and traditions I worked with weavers and travelled into the interiors of India. Five successful years into it and aspirations had to be bundled as I flew across the pond to USA in 2008 with my husband . Loneliness, acclimatization into a foreign land , winter and the warp and weft of creativity inherent in each of us led me to pursue creative writing from New York.
I wrote for magazines and I wrote for myself.
Cut to 2019 . Finally I have claim to six and a half hours as my daughter spends longer hours at school. I cook, clean , drive , write and go for walks. I have finally begun to soak into the pages of The Wonderful World At My Doorstep written by Mona Anderson. First published in 1968 it chronicles the world of New Zealand’s isolated sheep stations and the 27 years Mona made the place her home with her husband in a lonely but lovely world. I admired Mona for her willful tenacity and gracious wonder that spills onto the pages of the book.
Wise men believe we each need to discover and make our own path in this world. So I pestered the rumpled clouds and the distraught wind as to how I may discover the wonderful world at my doorstep.
Listen said the naked, brave trees.
Listen said the twittering notes of sparrows and black-capped chicadees .
Breathe , coaxed the 28 F cold air.
No dumping (except thoughts) read the road sign.
Be kind ( another road sign )
Listen said the swoosh of the dish washer
I looked for answers in the daily drum of life.
Finally my ear to mother earth’s bosom I heard faint whispers of stories being written on life’s pages with the ink of toil and purpose.
This blog is about real life stories chronicling extraordinary people doing ordinary stuff and ordinary people doing exemplary work and how they have discovered a wonderful world at their doorstep. May we find our stories in theirs.
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