There’s this little girl I’m volunteering with at the reading program. She’s seven. Painfully shy. Didn't speak above a whisper the first two times we met. But today - today I found the key to her, the thing she loves so much that she forgets she’s shy when you talk about it: her cat Spangle. I found a book about cats and we sat down to read it and she did so well! I checked out the book for her so she could take it home and when her mom picked her up, I suggested they read it aloud to the cat, if the cat would cooperate. We’ll see how that goes.
It was a small moment, hardly of global importance. Just a little girl speaking with confidence and enthusiasm, but it was wonderful. There’s so much in the world that works to tear us all down, it feels so good to be part of something that helps build a person up.
On the reading front, in a totally different way.... I've been thinking a lot about this Ron Lit video on George Eliot. This ending thought in particular: "whether in seeing only the surface, you miss out on stuff, or whether in looking for a depth that you can never be certain is there you just represent your own thoughts and you don't get any closer to the truth of the matter."
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