Looking for My Place in the Sun

The sun is low in the sky, and to get any of its goodness on my face, I had to opt for one of the old patio chairs on the deck, instead of an Adirondack down on the actual patio. I brought out with me (along with a notebook, journals, sketchbook, and writing instruments) a single book: Making Marks by Elaine Clayton. It’s one I’ve begun reading any number of times but have failed to get all the way through. How often have I proceeded in such a manner with the books I’ve needed the most?

A different book by Clayton, though, may turn out to the most important book of my life. I know that’s a big claim, especially since I’ve gotten not even 30 pages into The Way of the Empath, but I’ve got a strong feeling about that one.

Most of the deciduous trees, on the other side of the driveway, that still have leaves are sporting only golden ones now. Trees across the road and behind me are tending towards rusty hues at this point in the game. Leaf peeping season is clearly past its peak.

My sweatshirt is not keeping me quite warm enough, and my feet in Birkenstocks (Giza, which are essentially flip-flops) are getting cold, so I’ll open Making Marks to see what it has to offer me. I don’t want to pick up where I left off on page 104, because I know I won’t be there long. Starting at the beginning if often a good idea, and that’s what I’ll do. It just so happens that the first paragraph of the foreword shows me how important it is revisit the good books over and over (even if you never read them through once). Written by Eldon Taylor, it goes like this:

Elaine Clayton has a rare gift that she has chosen to share with you. Imagine opening up to a yet-uncharted region of yourself and discovering with great excitement an entirely new dimension of your being. What Elaine offers is somewhat akin to giving sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf. Indeed, it is a genuine added sensory lens that leads to understanding new richness and depth in many of our experiences.

That must sound like more hyperbole, but with what I’ve already picked up from the books of Elaine Clayton, I’m betting that she’s worth investing in.