Red Writing Hood - Tradition

When I was younger - probably twenty years ago, my mother gave me a book which over the years I have replaced several times. I loved it so much that I would often gift it to a friend if I felt she too might love this book. Then I would buy myself another because I couldn't stand to be without a copy. 

This book changed my inner life. I began thinking in terms of writing. Back then I wrote in journals. It was memoir-type writing but there was something so private and serene about it that really hooked me. Like the author, I often found myself in coffee shops and diners, writing in my notebooks.

I wrote about nothing. Just whatever came out. It was therapeutic, documentative, self-preserving and especially to that young me, very romantic. I haven't picked up the book in a few years but I know exactly where it is downstairs. I love the simplicity of the exercises and the way the author weaves in her personal story of writing.

I've treasured this gift my mother gave me. I've never told her how much. I hope to pass it onto one or both of my kids. Maybe it will give them permission to sit in a cafe and write one day.

I saw this interview with the author of that book, Writing Down the Bones, and wanted to post it for my entry in the Red Writing Hood promt Tradition.