I don't really have one favorite book. I have about thirty four favorite books. But Anne of Green Gables (and the other seven books in the Anne series) is definitely one of them. Also I like the accompanying movie almost as much as I like the book. The movie is different from the book for sure. And the second and third movies completely change the story of Anne, but they're still great, because they are Anne. Anne with an E. Whenever I watch Anne of Green Gables, I swoon excessively because of Gilbert. Just look at him. Sometimes if I spend too much time alone, I get really sad that he's not real and that I can't marry him next week. Or the week after. Or ever because he's not a real person.
"He was a tall boy, with curly brown hair, roguish hazel eyes and a mouth twisted into a teasing smile"
Here are the best things I've learned from dear old Anne -
1) Bosom friends is a real thing.
Neither Anne nor Diana had any idea that the other existed or that they were about to be in each other's lives, but then suddenly they were and they solemnly swore to be bosom friends forever. And they kept that promise really well. Bosom friends are the people with whom your heart connects so well and that is a thing to be celebrated and embraced heartily. It's like your hearts are magnetically attracted to each other. And once you meet, nothing can tear you apart. Not New Zealand or boys or lactose intolerance. You don't have to be the same age. You just have to have the same heart and then your hearts are connected forever and ever amen. BONUS: you can have multiple bosom friends (I definitely do).
2) And, similarly, romance doesn't have to mean boys.
Anne and Gilbert don't really get together until the second book (although it is obvious that they need to from their first meeting onward). I sometimes get it into my head that love means boys but it doesn't. It means love. Anne looks at flowers and sees affection in the way that they are made and the way that they interact with the sun. She does not need a dumb boy to experience romance. Before she and Gilbert were together, "Boys were, when she thought about them at all, merely possible good comrades."
3) Imagination is a wonderful fabulous thing.
Use it. Dream it. Love it. Anne and I do. Anne names all the scenes in her life, like the Barry's pond: "Lake of Shining Waters," etc. Her life is so enriched by imagination and it is how she coped with her life before she came to Green Gables, because her pre-Green Gables life was not so hot. She gets herself into so many unfortunate situations as a result of her imagination, and her life is so funny and never boring and therefore exuberant all the time as a result.
4) Growing up doesn't mean you're not fun anymore.
When Anne goes off to college, Marilla is so sad because the little girl she adopted not on purpose and accidentally fell in love with is leaving and no longer needs her, but Anne says, "I'm not a bit changed - not really. I'm only just pruned down and branched out. The real me - back here - is just the same. It won't make a bit of difference where I go or how much I change outwardly; at heart I shall always be your little Anne, who will always love you and Matthew and dear Green Gables more and better every day of her life." And that is exactly how I feel about growing up as well. Growing up means that sometimes life is just no fun and it's awful and you don't sleep so your eyes unfortunately and not purposely look like a stoner's and people want you to do stuff for them all the time and it is no longer required for your development that you play so you never get to play and then you are miserable. But play anyway! In addition to fulfilling your grown-up responsibilities. At Camp we like to say, "be childlike, but not childish" and that's how I want my grown-up self to be. Responsible and joyful. Mostly joyful. However, keep in mind that "one can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once."
Little girl Anne and (almost) grown-up Anne
5) There doesn't have to be similar blood between you for you to be a family.
Matthew and Marilla were brother and sister, and then Anne came and the three of them made a little family. There wasn't exactly a mom or a dad and it wasn't any kind of normal family, but they were absolutely a family. And I love that.
7) Apologizing is necessary (especially if you break a chalkboard over someone's head).
When Anne blew up at Rachel Lynde for calling her hair ugly, Marilla didn't allow Anne to do anything fun until she apologized. She also had to apologize to Gil after she broke a chalkboard over his head. And I respect that she did that. I love Anne's passion and how real she is, and I'm so glad that she apologizes after she does foolish things. Apologizing is (very) important. Even though everyone in the world would love Anne if she hadn't apologized (because who doesn't love Anne?), it's necessary to do so because it shows that she cares and she admits when she's wrong (which is really hard for her).
8) On a related note, it's never "just hair."
Hair matters, especially if you're Anne. It's not a bad thing to care about your hair. Just don't obssess or injure anyone's skull over it.
9) Be present.
I love the way Anne is so present (but not always so present that she puts the right ingredients in her puddings unfortunately). She's very present socially. She cares so deeply for people and for things (and for her hair), which is sometimes unfortunate because it tends to leads her to do foolish things like breaking chalkboards over people's heads or walking along rooftops and spraining her ankle, which is probably not ideal, but that's just who Anne is. I love her for it. When you are present and there for your life, you love it and enjoy it so much more.
10) Be yourself because you're beautiful and wonderful and I love you.
Guys, Anne is my hero. And I like to think that I am her. She is sometimes discouraged by herself, but not so much that she tries to subdue herself. She knows that this is just how she is. She embraces her boldness and her tendency to get in the most interesting of situations. She's a huge mess, but she knows it. And me too! Or so I like to think. Anne is just so much herself and she taught me to embrace my own self.
11) Love in real life is different (and better!) than love in movies.
This is actually from Anne of Avonlea, the second book in the series, but I'm still using it because it's great: “Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps...perhaps...love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath. ”
12) Be adventurous.
Adventures are SO FUN, guys, like accidentally floating down a river pretending to be the Lady of the Lake and then almost drowning only to be saved by Gilbert. That is an adventure. "Having adventures just comes natural to some people." And even if adventures don't come naturally to you, have them anyways. Adventures are the best. One of my (many) life mottos is: "Adventure is out there!"
I could keep writing about Anne, but I might be the only one who loves her (and Gilbert) this much. So this is where I will conclude.
Anne doesn't love Jesus like I do (but I'm willing to forgive her because she's fictional), so she doesn't tell us to love Him, but I want to tell you to. Because Jesus is the reason characters like Anne can exist. And He is the reason that we can exist. And He is our joy.
Love,
Lauralicious
Lauralicious
No comments:
Post a Comment