A few weeks ago I finished rereading (for the umpteenth time) Maud Hart Lovelace's “Emily of Deep Valley”. I'd forgotten just how good it is, and how timely even though it is set a century ago. One of the main storylines concerns Emily's involvement with the Syrian immigrant community who were being ostracised by the local townspeople. The theme I'm interested in writing about tonight though is the depression that can come when life doesn't go quite your way. Emily was a bright girl who yearned to go to college, but couldn't leave the elderly grandfather she lived with. Rather than mope or wallow (at least too much) on life's injustices, however, she decided to make the best of her situation. She involved herself with different causes, most notably the Syrians, and continued studying and learning too. In the process she attracted a surprising number of interesting people too and found she wasn't nearly as lonely as she'd expected to be.
One quote from the book sums up at least a part of Emily's philosophy perfectly:
“We have to build our lives out of what materials we have. It's as though we were given a heap of blocks and told to build a house.”Somehow I find that immensely comforting. Now, when I'm feeling dissatisfied with some aspect of my life, I think to myself that I just have a different pile of blocks from other people, so naturally my house will look a little different. I've had a number of constraints and responsibilities in my life that don't always feel very fair. But if I were to be completely honest, I also have a number of blessings and good things to compensate, although, like many people I don't focus on those enough. Thanks to Emily (and Maud - funny how my two most favourite authors are both Mauds), I think I've found a measure of contentment I had been lacking.
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