🌱 TREE 115: I know of a cure for everything

‘Why, yes,’ he said, ‘I know of a cure for everything: salt water.’

‘Salt water?’ I asked him.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘in one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.’

I said: ‘I have tried sweat and tears. The salt sea I meant to try, but a woman in black lace prevented me.’

—Isak Dinesen, Seven Gothic Tales

So much about this passage intrigues me. The way it has been condensed into an inspirational quote when the actual text is about something quite dark.

And the fact that Reader’s Digest did that in 1934... way before motivational mantras were really a thing. The other aspect I think about is that it is often incorrectly attributed to a male author. Isak was a pen name for a woman.

Thank you so much, Rachel Devine, for sharing your photos. Thank you for encouraging us to find the art in and around us. Thank you for reminding us to tell our stories. Thank you for sharing your songs.

You get more of this goodness pretty much every day when you follow Rachel on Instagram. So do that.

Have a lovely weekend.
Jeff

It’s Icelandic folk Friday!

The Memory of TREE playlist – every song from every email: