[alice md]

Nicky,

I saw that you put the little prince as your icon.

I too found a lot of comfort in those books- alice in wonderland, the little prince, the hundered acres woods, the wizzard of oz, Horton hears a who, etc. ...

all have a special kind of naive wisdom, that really helped me got over a lot of hard times.

at some point I wrote a book called " a different kind of journey" where my neuros were "geographers". it took me time to remember where I got that idea from, but then I did, and added it into my book, giving credit to the author of this wonderful book-the little prince.


It was the most magnificent and stately planet that he had ever seen.
"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Has it any oceans?"
"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
"Ah!" The little prince was disappointed. "Has it any mountains?"
"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
"And towns, and rivers, and deserts?"
"I couldn't tell you that, either."
"But you are a geographer!"
"Exactly," the geographer said. "But I am not an explorer. I haven't a single explorer on my planet. It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts. The geographer is much too important to go loafing about. He does not leave his desk. But he receives the explorers in his study. He asks them questions, and he notes down what they recall of their travels. And if the recollections of any one among them seem interesting to him, the geographer orders an inquiry into that explorer's moral character."
"Why is that?"
"Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much."
"Why is that?" asked the little prince.
"Because intoxicated men see double. Then the geographer would note down two mountains in a place where there was only one."
"I know some one," said the little prince, "who would make a bad explorer."
"That is possible. Then, when the moral character of the explorer is shown to be good, an inquiry is ordered into his discovery."
"One goes to see it?"
"No. That would be too complicated. But one requires the explorer to furnish proofs. For example, if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain, one requires that large stones be brought back from it." The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement. "But you you come from far away! You are an explorer! You shall describe your planet to me!" And, having opened his big register, the geographer sharpened his pencil. The recitals of explorers are put down first in pencil. One waits until the explorer has furnished proofs, before putting them down in ink. "Well?" said the geographer expectantly.
"Oh, where I live," said the little prince, "it is not very interesting. It is all so small. I have three volcanoes. Two volcanoes are active and the other is extinct. But one never knows."
"One never knows," said the geographer.
"I have also a flower."
"We do not record flowers," said the geographer.
"Why is that? The flower is the most beautiful thing on my planet!"
"We do not record them," said the geographer, "because they are ephemeral."
"What does that mean 'ephemeral'?"
"Geographies," said the geographer, "are the books which, of all books, are most concerned with matters of consequence. They never become old-fashioned. It is very rarely that a mountain changes its position. It is very rarely that an ocean empties itself of its waters. We write of eternal things."
"But extinct volcanoes may come to life again," the little prince interrupted.
"What does that mean 'ephemeral'?"
"Whether volcanoes are extinct or alive, it comes to the same thing for us," said the geographer. "The thing that matters to us is the mountain. It does not change."
"But what does that mean 'ephemeral'?" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question, once he had asked it.
"It means, 'which is in danger of speedy disappearance.' "
"Is my flower in danger of speedy disappearance?"
"Certainly it is."
"My flower is ephemeral," the little prince said to himself, "and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet, all alone!"
That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more. "What place would you advise me to visit now?" he asked. "The planet Earth," replied the geographer. "It has a good reputation." And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.


and this is the part in my book-


J sat down, not knowing what to do next. She started looking for magic stones, that could be used, but there were none. She felt very desperate. She never wanted to go on this journey in the first place. Although there were some parts of the journey that made her feel very good with herself, most of the time she was confused and tired. There were no road signs; there was no one you could get directions from.
She then saw her guide, Prof. S. She could not imagine how he got there. Maybe this was a circular path? She was very happy to see him though and she asked him what she should do in order to go through the dark forest. She told him about the really hard journey that she had until then, and the mountains that she had to climb. He looked at her as if he was looking at a small child. She could see that he was holding a map in his hand, when he talked to her. "There are no mountains" he said to her, "just very small hills". J was very puzzled. So if this land had no mountains, how could she have seen them so many times? And why did she feel so tired after climbing them, even with the magic potion? "You mean that there are no mountains in this land?" she asked quite surprised. "Oh no, I did not say that. There are very big mountains in this land, even some, that can be very dangerous to climb. I have seen some travelers that have been almost killed in terrible snow storms. And you are probably right, that some of them do look like hills after you come down. I have heard that from others. But there are no mountains in this part of the land" J felt very frustrated with what he said, and asked him how he knew that and what made him so sure. "Oh, that's very easy. Look at this map" he said, showing her the map that he held in his hand. "You can see here very clearly, that there are no mountains in this are, and you can also see" he said, pointing to another area of the map, "that in the place that you first met me, there is no pond and no water, so you could not have almost drowned there, like you thought". "But" J said, "didn't you see the water?" he again looked at her as you would look at a young and confused child, and talked to her very patiently. "It might have looked like water, but most likely it was not, because as you can clearly see, there is no pond or lake or any other water containing area on this map." "But couldn't this map be wrong?" J asked "of course it could be wrong. It is also possible that the sun will not shine tomorrow, and maybe today is not today" He said to her. He grew more and more impatient as they talked. Finally he said: "look, I am a geographer, and I know this land very well. I have studied it in the university. I am highly knowledgeable in this map that was drawn many years ago, by one of my teachers, who has learned a lot about this land by interviewing many travelers. I myself have interviewed and guided quite a few travelers. "...


alice.

[DesertFlower]

I noticed The Little Prince picture as your icon, too, Nicky.

What a great book! I have it on my shelf and it is time to re-read it.

Alice, thanks for quoting the part about the geographer, it seems so much like a discussion between a doctor and a patient, lol (and I did laugh so hard to see a new meaning in this discussion found in The Little Prince).

Also, thanks for sharing your story. I haven't read the whole thing since my eyes wouldn't cooperate, so I decided to say thank you first, but I like what I read so far.

I so much like to write! and read!! I am inspired to write more. Thank you for the inspiration.

[Nicknerd]

Hi Alice!

The little prince is one of those sweet books that gives me chills and makes me cry! lol

The journeys that his rose compels him to take, all for love, which is all that matters, because he put in the time and work to nurture and care for it, and the ignorant, skeptical adults he comes across who have forgotton the important truths known in childhood- it can be applied to anything. The things we know based on experience (truth), and the things we think we know based on observation (assumption), but can never truly know. The endless possibility of imagination and truth in imagination too (the box with the sheep inside).

It is a lot like a patient-doctor relationship- The patient lacks the education (adulthood) to be taken seriously by the doctor when the terms the doctor understands are missing, and patient (child) who knows what they're experiencing and can't get past the close-mindedness of the doctor.

I liked your story!

Nicky