Finding Our Place: Three Stories for Our Best Selves

This month I am featuring three beautiful stories that carry a common theme. Each in its own way speaks to developing one's talents and finding the best in ourselves despite what can be tremendous difficulties.

As we welcome in a new year, it is a natural time for self-reflection. Whether or not you write down goals, take some time to contemplate the direction of your life. Ask: Am I pleased with my life thus far? What can I do this year to enhance my life's experiences? Am I living in joy? Why or why not? Have I found my life's work? If so, what am I doing to further my goals?

Our first book is Whale Rider, the best selling New Zealand novel by Witi Ihimaera and now an award winning movie. This story is told in a beautiful setting and contains evocative language. Kahu, the eight year old great-granddaughter of a Maori tribal chief, has gifts indicating her abilities to be the next chief. But Koro Apirana, the grandfather, refuses to acknowledge his granddaughter or to see her abilities.

This modern day story is told in conjunction with a Maori legend about the settling of New Zealand. This legend features a man who communicates with whales. Kahu also hears the whales' songs and has a deep kinship with the sea. When whales become beached near her home, Kahu's abilities really shine. Those things that she loves-the Maori language, the ocean, her grandfather-all come together as she alone is able to save the whales. Kahu does not necessarily understand her uniqueness. She just allows herself to be and she follows her heart. Despite her youth and her grandfather's rejection, Kahu does not despair or relinquish her singleness.

Gathering Blue by award winning author Lois Lowry is another story about developing uniqueness. This is a young adult novel, part of a trilogy of sorts that begins with The Giver. These novels are set in a future that develops after a nuclear holocast. The orphan girl Kira is a talented weaver. Her fingers seem to know what to do, and she has a singular relationship with the beautiful threads. Though she is given the opportunity to leave her oppressive society, Kira chooses to remain so that she can try to positively affect change when she realizes what her gifts are.

The Road to Coorain is a personal memoir by Australian Jill Ker Conway, who was raised in the Australian outback on a sheep ranch. The stark beauty of the outback forms her love for the land and her interest in history. When Jill's father dies as the ranch is suffering from a severe drought, her mother moves with Jill to Sydney.

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