Thinking About "Kindred Spirits"

If you're like me and you read Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables when you were a kid, "kindred spirits" is probably part of your vocabulary -- and part of your life, too.

In the novel, its spunky red-headed heroine Anne Shirley arrives in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, direct from a Nova Scotia orphanage. She needs a home, she needs adults to care for her and raise her, but she's also in search of a "kindred spirit."

Aren't we all?

I had the delicious pleasure of re-reading Anne of Green Gables last week because I was discussing it on Plus qu'on est de fous, plus qu'on lit, a Radio Canada program I'll be appearing on (can a person "appear" on radio?) over the next four Tuesdays. (Here's the link if you want to hear last Tuesday's broadcast.)

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about kindred spirits. Anne finds a best friend in Avonlea -- Diana Barry. But to her great delight, Anne also finds several other kindred spirits. They include Matthew, the timid elderly man who shares his home with her; Diana's aging aunt; and the minister's wife.

To me, a kindred spirit is more than a run-of-the-mill friend, though those are nice to have too! A kindred spirit is someone who appreciates you, who accepts you for who you are, someone who "gets" you ... when we're in the company of a kindred spirit, well, we feel right at home.

Here's hoping that like Anne Shirley, you find lots of them in your life, too. And there's an extra bonus for those of us who love to read fiction -- we find kindred spirits in books, too!

Anne Shirley is definitely one of my kindred spirits. Not only is she a delightful chatterbox, but she is also something of a philosopher. "Isn't it nice," she says, "to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" Anne Shirley, I loved you when I was 11, and I still love you now... a mere 40 years later!!