This autumn, as the aspen leaves were turning to gold, a cherished friend of mine introduced me to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel, Le Petit Prince. While I had been aware of the book’s existence, I had never taken the time to read it. The story has quickly become one of my favorites.
I love perusing the book’s pages, reading about the little prince who rules an asteroid no bigger than a house. On his travels, the prince encounters a downed pilot in the desert and relates the tales of his travels to him. The adventure comes alive in new ways, with fresh details leaping off the page every time I read it.
Lying in bed one night, I watched as the shadows from the streetlight danced across my ceiling. The silhouettes of falling snowflakes trailed down the wall. My thoughts were racing and I couldn’t sleep. 2020 had been a year fraught with incredibly challenging situations and, as the new year approached, things weren’t looking any brighter. Despite my usual optimistic view of the world, doubts and worries kept creeping in and threatening to cause anxiety. Negative thoughts could pile up faster than laundry, and I was daily scrambling to keep them in check.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Reaching over, I turned on the lamp and felt for the book on my nightstand. I opened Le Petite Prince and began to read.
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