Making the World More Beautiful

A favorite book of ours right now is Miss Rumphius. The story tells the life of Miss Rumphius from the time she is a little girl until she’s old and gray. When she was little, she told her grandfather of her desire to travel the world and live by the sea. He reminds her that she must also do one other thing: make the world more beautiful.

She travels the world, lives by the sea and then in her later years struggles with how she can make the world more beautiful. She spreads lupine seeds and is delighted many months later when she discovers that lupines have grown throughout her community. She has made the world a more beautiful place. She passes along inspiration to her niece, the narrator, to make sure she also works to make the world beautiful.

My daughter adores this story and loves the idea of making the world more beautiful, even though at the age of 4 she is yet to travel the world or live by the sea. We’re just going with what works here. We’re not planting lupines or spreading lupine seeds today, but we are planting flowers – and my daughter is thrilled that she’s making the world more beautiful with bright pink geraniums. I guess you could say we’re making our own story.

Share and Enjoy:

Margaret

June 29th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

What a beautiful thought. I used to live in a small beach community of only 30 houses in New Zealand. Every summer I would collect seeds from my garden, mix them all in a bag and then just throw them around during my walks. It was lovely to see their blooms in later years.

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Denise

June 29th, 2009 at 6:11 pm

you’ve been making your own story for quite some time. This is just another chapter. A good one at that too.

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Annie Pazoo

June 29th, 2009 at 7:39 pm

Emily- I so love that book. I first read it as an adult, when my older sister gave it to our mom (a gardener and planter of beauty in the world). Non that I vacation frequently in Maine, it takes on an even more special meaning. Thanks for the reminder of it!

kirwin @ Graceful Creative

June 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am

I used to read this to my first graders each year…and then ask them how they planned on making the world a more beautiful place. Some of the more-literal kids would answer that they were also going to plant flowers. Others said they would make the world more beautiful by sharing and being nice to others. {smile}

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