In 2002, before I had ever been pregnant, the woman who became my daughter's paternal great-grandmother recommended a book to me as a "must-read." As I am prone to do, I bought this book on sale, put it on my shelf, and assigned it to my ever growing and constantly evolving To Read List. I finally decided to read Anita Diamant's The Red Tent at the start of 2011. I am so hooked on this book right now! I haven't completed it yet, but this is one of those books that even between reading sessions, I keep rehashing the story in my mind, turning it over, thinking "what if?”
I am not going to retell the tale here, but all this time I've had this treasure sitting on my bookshelf, and had no idea that a major theme of the story is the narrator/ main character's journey to becoming a midwife. Interesting that as I begin the book, I am simultaneously feeling drawn to the same path. It is a strange coincidence that soon after I started visualizing myself as a midwife, imagining what that life would be like for me (because it is a life, not just a vocation), I started reading a novel about a girl who grows into a woman and follows her Aunt into the path of midwifery. Strange indeed.
The Voice
There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
"I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you--just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.
— Shel Silverstein
