2. OIBPW: Our Values
What book has most greatly influenced who you are and/or how you interact with other people?
Each of the impactful women in my life answered this question with a different book. Their selection ranges from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein to Beloved by Toni Morrison, from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou to Mother to Daughter: Life Lessons on Raising a Girl by Melissa Harrison.
How has this book impacted you?
Though their book selections in response to my first question differed, their explanations in response to this question melded together, highlighted by distinct common threads: integrity, empathy, parenthood, and understanding. The ideas that readers internalize from texts are the ideas that resonated with them, ideas that mattered to them. The common threads that I found in their responses are the traits that these women value. Those common threads are the qualities that make these women so powerful.
Responses
“Doing the right thing isn’t always easy. Integrity matters.” ——— explaining Leadership on the Line by Ronald Heifetz & Marty Linsky
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings “illustrates how the strength of character and a love of literature can help someone overcome racism and trauma.”
“Over the years, I have read [To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee] several times and find new meaning in it […] compassion, courage, and integrity to name a few attributes.”
“I learned about kindness to strangers, […] about misunderstanding and forgiveness. It made me want to connect with people and I love the idea that ultimately, our stories are all connected.” ——— explaining The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
“Our chemical pathways are so delicate and fragile - it reminds me that we are only a few steps from being in someone else’s frame of mind.” ——— explaining She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity by Carl Zimmer
“The stories [Fredrik Backman] tells and the way he tells them invite readers to empathize on a level beyond what most fiction offers. […] He reminds us that we can never really fully know another person but he encourages us to try all the same.” ——— explaining the author Fredrik Backman
Her work “always reminds me to slow down and witness the action just as it is.” ——— explaining the author Joan Didion.
“[The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein] has been a tradition for me to read to my new class for the past 34 years. It demonstrates the never-ending love a parent has for their child.”
“This book gave me patience and perspective. I cried then, and still cry now, at the last page: ‘In the end, let her go.’” ——— explaining Mother to Daughter: Life Lessons on Raising a Girl by Malissa Harrison