In Spanish, there is a saying that goes like this: Before you die, you must do three things – plant a tree, have a baby, and write a book. I have always liked this thought, and furthermore, it makes a lot of sense. I can happily say that I fulfilled ALL the “requirements,” a long time ago. That is not to say that I will never plant another tree, or write another book. My “baby” is in his thirties and I will never have another. We take what is allotted to us in life, and I was meant to mother only one child. That’s ok.
The Spanish saying mentions writing a book. Many people write books, some about obscure topics. Who would think that an entire book would be devoted to “Ferns and Fern Allies of New Hampshire”? The diversity of people’s interests never cease to amaze me! We all have a passion for something. What’s yours?
My mother collected cookbooks and crossword puzzle books. My father gathered books about literature, poetry, religion, public speaking, politics, money management, and how to improve one’s memory.
Whether we realize it or not, we are all experts about something whether that be car maintenance, how to tend a garden, or the care and nurturing of a child … the field for potential book subjects is unlimited.
If you are not currently in the mood to write a book, do more reading and study, and thinking. Perhaps, you’ve done something, like served in a war, that was a unique experience, or at least unique as seen from your perspective. Before you think of crossing to the other side, write that book!
Anyone can plant a tree, and in fact, little spruce trees are often given away at certain shops on Arbor Day. Not everyone is cut out to be a parent, and all it takes is a quick trip to your local department store to figure out that it would have been better, had someone skipped that part of the equation. However, for many people, writing a book is possible, and could even be therapeutic and cathartic, or at the very least, instructive.
Three little things: plant a tree, have a child (or nurture one), and write a book. Having done all that during what seems a lifetime ago, I think I’ll just mosey off now to take a “siesta.”
Patricia Cummings
