Island of the Blue Dolphins

This time I actually have a good excuse for reading a kid's book. I was asked to lead a reading circle with some of my fourth grade girls. The book is called Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and it chronicles the life of a indigenous girl named Karana, who in an effort to save her brother jumps from a moving ship and swims back to the island that her family and her entire tribe are leaving in order to escape from the Aleuts. She and her brother set about figuring out a way to survive alone as they wait for their family to return, but then her brother is attacked and killed by a pack of wild dogs and she is stuck on the island alone....for years. (I'm not giving away too much, that happens close to the beginning of the book). What really got to me about this book, in addition to the nice clear style of narration and excellent imagery was the story of what she did to fill her days. Clearly there was no grocery store, so a lot of her time was spent gathering good. And as it was so lonely living in the village alone, she built herself another house and some weapons with which to hunt and to protect herself from the dogs. And while she does end up forming relationships with the other animals that she encounters, the most interesting relationship in the book is the one she has with herself.

Like all of us, Karana has a whole consciousness constructed by the culture and legends of her people, so that even when they aren't there she is still guided by what she learned before. She struggles with herself about whether or not she should make weapons as it was taught to her that women should never make weapons. She really has to find the answers within herself.

One thing I realized is how much time I spend with other people. When I think about my life, so much of my story surrounds my daily interactions with my friends, family, co-workers, and students. What would happen to me if all of that went away? Who would be there to celebrate my accomplishments with me, or comfort me in my failures? Who would validate my experiences or help me to process the lessons I'm constantly learning from the universe? What would life look like if you were all alone. Would it still be worth it?

I spend a lot of time alone, but even when I'm by myself the thoughts and energies of others stay with me. In the silence, my mind is super loud, always chattering about everything and anything. What captured my imagination was the idea of what life would be like without all the distractions. At first it would be really lonely, but then what would it be like to just be with yourself, to have only your own heart song to listen to. What would you learn? This has been a question very much on my mind lately, not because I plan on living on deserted island somewhere, but because I just started a spiritual practice class that is helping me to ease myself into meditation. I am preparing my mind and body to journey within.

Last week I kept a log of how I spent my week. I recorded how many minutes or hours I spent in prayer, studying spiritual texts, meditating, or providing acts of service. And it was pretty revealing. My teacher describes meditation as the second half of a conversation with God. Prayer is the time when you get to talk, but meditation is when you listen. I talk a lot, but my attention span for listening is embarrassingly low. What would I do if there was no one else to listen to but God? What would I learn? Who would I become? Just something on my mind.