Zerrissenheit. Huh? Come again…
Tags: Short Story, Life Lessons, Education, Life, Reading

First things first

I do NOT speak German.

The term Zerrissenheit was first introduced to me in one of my all-time-favorite books, Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In the bottom of page 55 in that book, Ms. Lindbergh writes:

“Woman’s life today is tending more toward the state William James describes so well in the German word, Zerrissenheit — ‘torn-to-pieces-hood.’ She cannot live perpetually in Zerrissenheit. She will be shattered into a thousand pieces. On the contrary, she must consciously encourage those pursuits which oppose the centrifugal forces of today. Quiet time alone, contemplation, prayer, music, a centering line of thought or reading, of study or work. It can be physical or intellectual or artistic, any creative life proceeding from oneself. It need not be an enormous project or a great work. But it should be something of one’s own. Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day — like writing a poem, or saying a prayer. What matters is that one be for a time inwardly attentive.”

Ms. Lindbergh’s array of books touch on diverse topics: youth and age, love and marriage, peace, solitude and contentment, and the role of women in the 20th century. Gift from the Sea is an inspirational book. It was first published in 1955.

Wikipedia tells me that this book earned Ms. Lindbergh a place as “one of the leading advocates of the nascent environmental movement” and that it became a national bestseller.

This book has been on my shelf for over twenty years. I’ve gifted copies to friends for many years. I’ve read it countless times and I can attest that every time I’ve read, it has spoken to me in the very stage of my personal life journey. It’s my go-to comfort book. I appreciate the book so much that one of my characters in the future novel I’m working on right now, *wink* carries the book along to read.

[disclaimer] Selma, yours truly, is an enthusiast — of books, of learning, of living, of life. She has yet to read the classics. If you’d ask of one book that uplifts her, this is the one she’d recommend readily and she’d advice that it be read at different stages of one’s life.

To my male readers, I say: Women are Ms. Lindbergh’s avatar for this particular book. But I see no reason why any PERSON wouldn’t benefit from it. The intermittency of the words in the pages speaks to the ‘comings and goings’ of the times we live in. BUT before you go out and order it, *check with wife, girlfriend or mother; more than likely they’ll have Gift from the Sea in their shelves as well. Yay! (*check — but you’ll want to have your own copy to mark your own highlights).

“Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives But the important as well. We can have a surfeit of treasures — an excess of shells, Where one or two would be significant.” — Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE. IT WOULD BE SO GRATIFYING TO HEAR THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW AND LOVE THIS BOOK. OR, THAT THIS ARTICLE HAS PIQUED YOUR CURIOSITY. LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE. OH YEAH, HELP THIS LITTLE ARTICLE REACH MORE READERS BY CLAPPING GENEROUSLY. THANK YOU.

I Wish You Miracles, Selma.