I don’t know about you, but I’ve been finding it hard to stay focused on much these past few days. I’m heart-broken; my chest literally hurts over the seemingly unending stream of evil and lies that oozes from the present U.S. administration (yes, I wrote “evil and lies”) – not only what they do, but the black-hearted gloating done over their heinous actions committed by their toadying sycophants and boot-licking hangers-on. It’s difficult to write. Hell, it’s even difficult to think.
This evening, as I sat at my desk with piles of new and forthcoming books stacked up around me, I just kept thinking “What’s it matter?” Who should really give a fat rat’s rump about anything I have to say about anything with so many hurting so badly. But looking aimlessly around, I spied an ARC from Houghton Mifflin for Sy Montgomery’s and Rebecca Green’s How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals.
I wasn’t really sure what it was about; the title simply spoke to me in the moment. However picking it up and reading the description, I found the words
…the otherness and sameness of people and animals; the various ways we learn to love and become empathetic; how we find our passion; how we create our families; coping with loss and despair; gratitude; forgiveness; and most of all, how to be a good creature in the world.
This was enough. This was what I needed to get me through the night without screaming into the darkness. I’m going off to read it now in the hope of being reminded that there are still good creatures in the world, and that there is in fact a path for those who may not think themselves to yet be, but aspire to one day become one.
