Return to the Sea: Reflections on Anne Morrow Lindbergh's "Gift from the Sea"

In 1955, Anne Morrow Lindbergh gave a gift to millions of women in her much beloved Gift from the Sea. Two generations later, Anne Johnson invites women to discover the beauty and meaning of Lindbergh's timeless "shells" all over again in Return to the Sea. Lindbergh's book revealed how the sea has gifts to give to all who find their lives too busy and out of focus. Using the metaphor of shells to explore the inner spiritual path, Lindbergh gently led her readers to practice simplifying, quieting, shedding, and centering. Today, women are struggling to balance career, family, creative, and spiritual needs. Many of us have long since let go of the idealistic contemplative corner that Lindbergh envisioned, but not of our longing for it. In Return to the Sea, we are led back to Lindbergh's beach where the shells can be our teachers once again. Using experiences from her own spiritual journey-as a mother, career woman, and therapist-Johnson offers her readers a renewed vision of ways to create intentional space in our lives for personal and spiritual growth. Shell illustrations, along with meditations, centering and journal writing exercises, enhance each chapter's reflections on Lindbergh's original shell passages.