“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars

This post does not address a truth gleaned from fiction as this book is a philosophical memoir, but it does begin a series of posts that mostly fit the theme of this blog. If you have only read The Little Prince, you need to find one of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s other books and read how much more wisdom this man has to share — from his own words and those of others he shared his incredible life with. In the past 10 years or so, he has become a favorite writer of mine.

Wind, Sand and Stars holds not only the quote above, but another of my favorite quotes of his: “A garden wall at home may enclose more secrets than the Great Wall of China.” The bittersweet beauty of that truth stays with me every day of my life. We do not and should not share everything that happens behind the walls of our home. But there are some secrets that should not be kept for the health of all who live within a home. How often do we take a walk, especially in the evening, and see a home lit from within and assume it is a happy home? How often have we heard news that informed us otherwise? How often, then, must it be true that the picket fences, the landscaping, the carefully chosen front doors enclose secrets we would never imagine.

There was a time in my life when I knew I needed to take a step. I had no idea how to take the step, but I kicked out my foot anyway. Each day, I keep taking that step. For too many years, I kept my feet planted in a place where I felt incapable of being authentic. What seems even more sad to me at times is that I don’t think I always realized that. I existed. When I needed to take that step, there are a few books (and authors) that helped to guide me into my first steps back to my self.

Although Wind, Sand and Stars is not one of those books, it did come to me at a time when I needed a reminder to keep taking the step. This is why I am choosing this quote to begin a series of posts on the truths that came to me from the pages of fiction at a time in my life when I profoundly needed them if I was to step beyond mere existence into an authentic and vivacious life. It has been quite a journey — one that continues.