Everything I Need to Know About Life, I Learned From...

Anne.

As in, Anne Shirley. Well, Anne Shirley Blythe, eventually.


I’ve been re-reading the “Anne” books, from whence comes the origin of the title of my blog. “Scope for Imagination” is what Anne looks for in everything.

The books, penned by L. M. Montgomery, tell of the adventures had and lessons learned by Anne Shirley, a starry-eyed, dreamy, imaginative orphan, who brings joy into the lives of those who get to know her. I like to think of Anne as the Original Drama Queen. Anne—spelled with an E, mind you—has quite a knack for getting herself into humorous scrapes.

She also has a beautiful outlook on life. Anne sees the world as being full of glorious possibilities. And because of this, she brightens the lives of those around her irrevocably. Not that she’s a saint. She has a temper, and a tendency to let her imagination get the best of her. She has “down” days, like the rest of us, and she makes some mistakes that make you want to reach through the pages and shake her by the shoulders.

But as the books go on, we really start to get a glimpse of Anne’s—and presumably Lucy Maude’s—theology. L. M. Montgomery married a minister (as does one of her characters), and lived in a time and place where Christianity was taken for granted. But theology was strict, stolid, and “reformed.” People talk about things being “wicked” all the time—and they mean things like not thinking sacred thoughts on Sundays, and saying "darn."

Into this, Anne brings a fresh perspective. She says of her Sunday School Superintendent that he doesn’t pray as though he though God was really listening. Her idea of praying is to go into a field somewhere and look up to the heavens. As she gets older, she has some interesting (and radical, especially at the time!) ideas about Heaven. While her peers imagine it to be mostly like an Eternal Church service, Anne is fairly certain that there will be laughter, fashion (though it won’t matter so much), and the changing of seasons.

I love Anne. I feel certain—and grow more convinced every time I read the books—that we would be friends if there was every the possibility of us meeting. It sounds silly, but if there are fictional characters in Heaven (and I can tell you, Anne would probably revel in the idea!) I mean to have a good long picnic with Anne. She is, though fictional, from another time and culture, a Kindred Spirit. When I read her stories, I realize just how “Anne-ish” I truly am.

Interestingly, one of the over-arching themes of the Anne books is the idea of Ideals, and how you sometimes have to let them go. Especially in regard to love. I have a sneaking suspicion that L. M. herself must have been swept off her feet unexpectedly by someone she never expected to have any interest in. This is of great significance to me at this point in my life. I’ve mentioned some of my ideals when it comes to romance and relationships, and it is as if Anne is gently reminding me that they are not all as important as I have made them out to be. Which is good, all things considered.

However, if I were to count up all the things that Anne has reminded me, or taught me, this post would be twice as long. I suppose (grudgingly) that it’s not the kind of book that everyone would enjoy. But I still recommend it—them; there are eight books—to everyone. And don’t be surprised if I sound a little...effusive in my next few posts. Anne always has that effect on me.

Pursuit of the Ideal

L.M. Montgomery (famed author of the “Anne” series) once wrote a short story titled “The Pursuit of the Ideal,” and basically it was about a guy who tells his best girl friend all about his ideal woman (nearly her opposite in every way) but when he meets her, he realizes that it was his good friend who was his ideal all along. Montgomery also wrote a similar plot line with Anne, who aspired to love a dark, melancholy and poetic man, but found that in the end, she preferred Gilbert, who was not melancholy or very poetic, but laughed at her jokes and appreciated her.

The moral obviously is that what we think we want is not always what is best for us, and I think we can see that in almost any area of life.

But what, I wonder, if our ideal is someone who were are friends with, someone with whom we can laugh with, among other things? What if our ideals are things we actually know would be good for us?

In my blog on Singleness, I mentioned I’ve been single for a long time, and I briefly listed some things I’d (ideally) like in a guy. Having been single so long has a dual effect on me regarding these “ideals”: one is that I feel entitled to at least the majority of them; the other response I have is despair that I will ever find anyone who even remotely matches up.

If I were to list for you the things that I would like in a guy—The Guy—the length and elaborateness would stagger and astound you. It is the result of mentally calculating all the things I ever noticed and liked about guys I have known (whether real or *ahem!* fictional) and things I have observed in relationships. And…probably stuff from sappy chick flicks, too. I know. Shame on me for being out of touch with reality.

And some of the stuff—for example, being able to play the guitar, having an accent of some kind, driving a motorcycle—isn’t really important at all. It’s just fluff. Although…the guitar thing…….no, okay, really, I’m fine. I’m back to reality now. Not important.

Some things are only relatively important, like having the same taste in literature or music or movies. I don’t expect any guy (or anyone, for that matter) to like everything that I like. But at the very least I’d like to think he wouldn’t bash it, to my face, if he knows I love it. It’s okay to disagree on things, to have differing opinions, certainly. Everyone has different tastes. I’m pretty opinionated myself at times. Most times. But for example, tonight a guy was saying some harsh stuff about my favorite band ever. Ouch. Right after I said they were my favorite band ever. Really ouch. Not scoring any points there. Not that he was trying to. But you get the point.

I have decided, however, that a few things really are important to me. Like, non-negotiable. I know, you’re thinking, he has to be a Christian, right? Yes. Of course. That’s a given. But more than that, I want him to be a deep, strong Christian. A Ransomed Heart Christian. The kind of guy who’s read Wild at Heart by John Eldredge and has already gone on his journey with God to learn who he is as a man.

Why is that an Ideal? you may very well ask. Well, let me just say that Mr. Eldredge’s writings have been extremely meaningful and influential to me and my journey as a Christian, and as a woman. I will save further details for another blog at another time.

One thing I really liked about Wild at Heart (which I am currently re-reading) is that although the book was written primarily to give men permission to be men, in the process, it also gave me permission to be a woman. It told me that it was okay to want a strong guy who would fight for me. More than okay—it said it was good! No one had ever really said that before.

It’s a little embarrassing to admit in today’s culture of strong, feminist, “girl-power” women that I actually would like a guy to fight for me. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am capable of fighting for myself. But I don’t want to always have to. I like it when chicks kick butt (hello, Alias?  Princess Leia?) but I also tend to really love the heroes in the story.

Think with me now: William Wallace (Braveheart), Aragorn, Spider-Man, Han Solo…these are men who fight for what they believe in, they fight to free and help people. And they also fight for the woman they love. And deep down, I think every woman longs to truly be fought for—not necessarily in the physical sense, punches being thrown and all that, but to know that she is worth the risk. That’s not an Ideal, that’s a part of being a woman.

I know, this all sounds rather silly and perhaps a bit juvenile. The fancies of a girl who’s lost touch with reality. Knights in shining armor and all that…who needs it today? Who even really believes it’s possible? Well, I don’t know how possible or probable it is for me…but for right now, all I have is my Ideal. It’ll Have to Do, as Dean Martin sang, Until the Real Thing Comes Along. 

Post the First

Welcome to my first ever blog! I was having a conversation with one of my best friends last night (LATE last night) and she suggested I start a blog. And though I have to wonder who really has time to read all the blogs out there, let alone write them, I decided to try it anyway.

The title of my blog is taken from L.M. Montomery's writings. She created the original Drama Queen, Anne of Green Gables. Anne loved to daydream and was always talking about places that had scope for the imagination. I also love to daydream. Especially when I'm at work and I imagine that I'm the kind of person who says exactly what I'm thinking. I don't. I hardly say anything. But that's because I need to keep my job a little longer.

So there you go. I would just like to add that part of the reason this isn't a more riveting post is because I am distracted. Our computer is in the living room, where the TV is also located. And at the moment, my dad and brother are enraptured by an anime movie. A rather loud anime movie. And my cat, Phoebe, keeps meowing plaintivley for attention. So I'll end this for now. But don't worry. I'll have more riveting posts later. Stay tuned...