Louisa May Alcott is My Passion
Begun in 2010, this blog offers analysis and reflection by Susan Bailey on the life, works and legacy of Louisa May Alcott and her family. Susan is an active member and supporter of the Louisa May Alcott Society, the Fruitlands Museum and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.
. . . and in only about 500 words! This is from the Spiritual Travels blog: The Hippies of Nineteenth-Century America Posted on August 19, 2011 by lori Spending time with Bronson Alcott yesterday made me realize that before moving forward we need to get a bit clearer on what that ten-dollar word “Transcendentalism” means. Spoiler alert: abstract …
Continue reading "A clear introduction to Transcendentalism . . ."
It's vacation time again with more opportunities to visit Concord. The more times I visit, the more I want to see. A trip down the Sudbury River to Great Meadows I enjoy kayaking very much and so took a trip down the Sudbury River, launching from the bridge off of Lowell Road, just off of …
Continue reading "Tapping into my inner Thoreau; play-acting as Sylvia Yule"
I recently watched again the PBS film Louisa May Alcott The Woman Behind Little Women and thoroughly enjoyed it. To see Louisa portrayed on the small screen is just as thrilling as ever. This reminded me of how I started my blog 1 year ago today after reading the book. What a wonderful year it …
Continue reading "One year old today! Celebrating with a special gift for you!"
I just created a page with personal recommendations of places to visit and things to do while visiting Concord, Massachusetts. The one thing I could not recommend is hotels because I live too close to Concord to have stayed overnight. Here's some recommendations for those of you who want to indulge in living history (to …
Continue reading "Coming to Concord this summer? Here’s some recommendations"
After writing yesterday's post on Polly's modern sensibilities, I thought about what Louisa May Alcott's core belief was which motivated her feminism, and why she was so effective in imparting it. Autonomy My conclusion? Louisa's feminism was based on autonomy - the right of every woman to be autonomous, the freedom for each woman to …
Continue reading "The core of Louisa May Alcott’s feminism explains her timelessness"
I finally finished reading Moods a few weeks ago but just couldn't comment on it. After reading both the 1864 and 1882 versions, I concluded that the book left me flat. The characters felt rather two-dimensional. Both versions ended differently and each ending seemed convoluted. It left me feeling the way I did after reading …
I've just started reading a thick volume on contemplative prayer (Fire Within by Thomas Dubay, SM), based upon the writings of two giants in this area, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Both were Carmelites, and both hailed from Spain. Many Spanish scholars believe that St. John is the greatest poet …
Continue reading "Thoreau and mysticism – Nature as a highway to the Divine"
Much has been said about how unconventional Henry David Thoreau was. Although brilliant he was solitary, decidedly different, very blunt, not especially attractive physically, and he was prone to "queer" habits such as climbing trees, imitating bird calls and the like. Yet women did find Thoreau attractive. Louisa May Alcott had a schoolgirl crush on …
Continue reading "Was Thoreau a romantic? Final thoughts on “Walking”"
Listening to "Walking" while I walked (see previous post) only whetted my appetite to dig deeper into this amazing essay. The more I read, the more the text opened up like a flower early in the morning, each truth displaying itself in the light of a new understanding. I feel akin to Thoreau and I …
Continue reading "Continuing “Walking” with Henry David Thoreau"
I don't care what anyone says: I believe that Henry David Thoreau was a romantic. True, he certainly preferred his solitude over the company of others (although he and his brother at one time loved a woman named Ellen, enough to want to marry her, and it's rumored that Thoreau loved Lidian Emerson), but I …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 