As a child I was introduced to P.L.Travers as the author of her Marry Poppins titles, about a magical nanny of unknown origins who arrives at the Banks home in Cherry Tree Lane where she is given charge of the Banks children and teaches them valuable lessons with a magical touch.
As an adult I came to know P.L. Travers other writings, most notably, my dearly loved title, What the Bee Knows: Reflections on Myth, Symbol, and Story. The truths that make up the worlds’ great fables are richly explored in this gem of a book and I often return to this book when I need a dose of “rich thinking”. On the first page of What the Bee Knows, Travers says the book is meant “as a whisper at the inner ear and designed to touch that part of you which is not accessible to the things that are spoken of in newspapers.”
I am not sure if the book is still in print, so treat yourself and make a trip to your neighborhood public library. And plan on renewing the book multiple times.
As a tribute to this remarkable writer on her birthday, let me share with you one of my favorite quotes from P.L. Travers:
“I wish for you an aristocratic mind. A mind that knows that the world is not fragmented. An idea does not suddenly grow, like Topsy, all alone and separate. All things have antecendents, and long family trees. Be willing to concede that there are many more things in haven and earth than philosophy dreamed of. Allow for the unknown.”
