We all take comfort in different things. When times get hard you may go for a run, call your best friend, hide under a blanket eating cake or getting the glad rags on shouting for tequila. I have always taken solace in books. I am a natural researcher. Given a problem I will hit the books as there must be something written somewhere that can help me. Be it fiction, memoir, biography or a manual I know books will help.
One of my best finds, and most useful one, is Lesley Garner’s Everything I’ve Ever Done That Worked. It’s a collection of Lesley’s essays that she wrote as a tool kit for what to do when things are stuck, too hard or dispiriting. I’ve gone back to it many times and I use it’s wisdom when loved ones need help. Lesley never talks down to her readers. She’s been there and is passing on what she has learned.
It reminds me of the tale Leo tells Josh in the episode Noël of The West Wing.
This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you. Can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, ‘Father, I’m down in this hole can you help me out?’ The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by, ‘Hey, Joe, it’s me can you help me out?’ And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, ‘Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.’ The friend says, ‘Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.'”