the secret garden. frances hodgson burnett.

as i mentioned in my matilda post, i was inspired to read the secret garden because it was one of matilda's favorite. i had purchased it a couple weeks prior but it shot to the top of my to-read list because of matilda.

the secret garden is another book that i owned as a child but never read it.  i used to carry a copy around all the time with the intent to read it but never got very far.  i just couldn't get into it.  i have to admit on this read i had a difficult time picking it up.  i did get a little bored with it.  i am not one for mystery or gardening so i was like get on with the story already!    

but before i go on, i have to give a quick little rant about the secret garden being the original the secret.  i learned about the secret back in 2010 (i think) on the car ride to coachella with my friends, carnation, cody, jerry and john.  my bestie, john, explained to us that if we wanted something we needed to put it out into the universe for it to happen. cody put it out there for cheese at a party we were attending later that evening.  now let me explain we were in a car, and there was no way cheese could possibly happen . . . but it did!!!  carnation, our driver pulled out from her backpack, cheese snacks!  it blew our minds, i mean we had no idea it would work but it did!  and ever seen seeing that i quasi-believe in the secret.  now i haven't read the book the secret, but after reading the secret garden think the author behind it's philosphy just ripped off colin.  colin knew the power of putting things out into the universe and making it happen!  the kid gained the ability to walk and run from his believe in the power of reciting something.

this power that colin had is what i believed made this book so great.  its important for kids to understand the importance of self-confidence and faith.  it's one thing to have dreams, its quite another to have the self-assurance to know that you can accomplish those dreams.  to quote george michael, you got to have fa-fa-faith.   

another important lesson from the secret garden, is that you must move on from death (a lesson i needed since i lost my grandma bea the week before).  when someone closes to you dies, you can't shut off the world and wallow in sadness.  you have to continue in life and continue to love all the things that person loved and taught you to love.  if mr. craven did not see his son as what he had lost but as a part of his wife that he still had and need to love and care for he, he would not have wasted 12 years being miserable. furthermore, if he took care of the garden and allow it to grow, they would have had a place in which her spirit could always reside.  i am extremely grateful that mary came to them and helped them both heal and see that they could live and not feel sad about having lost mrs. craven.  they could allow mrs. craven's memory to live on through them and the garden.  we need to be happy about that times we had with those we have lost versus be sad about them not being in our present.

also i absolutely loved martha and her family!  dickson and his little gang of critters.  he was like a woodland fairy with his ability to talk and care for animals.  but the best was their mother, mrs. sowerby was filled with such wisdom when it came to kids.

  

my favorite was the story mrs. medock share about some wise words of her.  

[mrs. sowerby] says, 'once when i was givin' th' children a but of a preach after they'd been fightin' i ses to 'em all, "when i was at school my jography told as th' world was shaped like a orange an' i found out before i was ten that th' whole orange doesn't belong to nobody. no one owns more than his bit of a quarter an' there's times it seems like there's not enow quaters to go around.  but don't you--none o' you--think as you own th' whole orange or you'll find out you're mistaken, an you won't find out with hard knocks." what children leaned from children,' she says, 'is that there's no sense in grabbin' at th' who orange--peel an' all.  if you do you'll likely not even get th' pips, an' them's to bitter to eat."

it is true we don't own the whole world and if we think so, life will be tough for us.

another great quote came from mr. craven, "where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow."

where we plant love and happiness, hate and sorrow can not grow.  we must seek the positive.

and this sentiment is why the secret garden is a timeless classic.  i am glad i finally read it and regret not reading it in my youth.  my adult mind may have gotten bored but my adult heart needed to learn the lessons from this book.