Something Lovely

Every time I finish a book I read up on the book and author like on obsessed ex. If the author is still living I often write them adoring emails that I never send.

Yesterday I checked on a book/author that I read 3 years ago and I found that she started a new project:

“The Beckoning of Lovely”

This is how it started.

This is what it became.

This is the project.

I wanted to get involved so I wrote her an email, and…this time…I actually sent it:

Lovely

You are lovely.

My friend gave me "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" for my birthday 3 years ago. I fell in love with it. It was lovely.

Later that summer, I was backpacking through Europe with my younger brother. One night in a hostel in Sigisoara, Romania we met two friends who were in Romania because they were tracing their ancestry. We went to dinner with them, spent some time with them. She was very passionate about journal writing, as am I, and I told her about how I had just read this book that I loved...your book. She actually happened to know you (or knew someone that knew you...her first name is Perri, but I don't remember her last name). Any way, we bonded. It was lovely.

I love this project and I want to be a part of it. I'm an aspiring writer and I would love to write something for your New York event, if possible. Here is a sample of my writing and if you would like to see more the link to my blog and website are below. Thanks!

Kimberly Calder

ANNNNddd.....She wrote me back!

Re: Lovely

hi Kimberly

Oh my.
I love how the world works sometimes.

I know only one Perri (not the most common name)...and it sounded like it could be her. (traveler, journaler). I am actually very close with her mom. I forwarded her mom your email and asked, could this be your sweet daughter Perri?

Indeed it is.

Can you believe it?

I would love to have you read/perform at New York event.

This piece you sent is wonderful, but I am also open to looking at others and deciding together what would be best for you.

thanks for reaching out,
amy

p.s. i should also mention that I have always loved Perri for one other reason aside from just that she's super great...
my daughter's name is Paris and we often call her Pari...

and last year we had a double daughter Perri/Pari date at Jill's (her mom) where we hibernated in their cool arts and crafts room for a couple hours and made fun collages and cards!

Re: Re: Lovely

Yeah! I'm so excited to be involved! I would love to write something that is as lovely as I think your project is...I don't even know what that means yet, but I'll see if I can get the universe to tell me. Could I send you something (or a few things maybe) in April?

Oh and I do love how the world works. I love that you know Perri and that I spent a brief 24 hrs (if even that) with her in a random little town in Eastern Europe right after I read your book. I'd like to think that it's more than a coincidence.

Thanks again for giving me a shot. Good luck with getting everything together, and if you run into Perri, tell her hi and tell Perri's mom how refreshing it was to have such a serendipitous meeting with such a sincerely lovely person..

Kimberly

So, I’m now in search of the loveliest things in this world, luckily, they’re not that hard to find. Sometimes they come to you, like this morning’s snowstorm that welcomed Spring with the biggest snowflakes I’ve seen all Winter.

P.S. Kim Gardner, thanks again for the birthday gift 3 years ago.