" the extraordinary, wonderful, beautiful things that happen when we share one another’s burdens..."

7 August 2022: “I think that we as a society, we as Americans, have gone almost as far as the pendulum can swing in the direction of materialism, rabid individualism, and a kind of indefensible selfishness. And when that pendulum finally starts to swing back, there’s going to be no better guide for us than the work of Louisa May Alcott because her writing is about caring, it’s about self-mastery and not self-indulgence, it’s about the extraordinary, wonderful, beautiful things that happen when we share one another’s burdens, and when we set aside our sort of vain material wishes and wants in the name of a core of values that is much more human and much more kind…Louisa May Alcott is always going to have innumerable things to give us, but that message of mutuality and sharing and love has got to be at the top of the list.” –John Matteson, on season 2, episode 7 of Let Genius Burn. 

I listened to this episode while mowing the lawn this morning. It's so hot and humid out there that I was kind of soaked, but when I stopped to wipe my face, there were a couple of tears in there in response to Matteson's words. 

When I think about what I've learned while writing this book so far--the things that I've learned that matter to me, that will stay with me, and (God willing) will shape me and make a better person--the clear moral example of Louisa is near the top of the list.