Whatever Gets You Through the Night

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Becky Dingle

Dear Reader:

In this John Lennon’s 60’s album he took a popular expression for his title and suggested that ” Whatever gets you through the night… It’s all right… it’s all right.”

When I looked up the meaning behind the expression …one definition used a foreign phrase to explain it: ” Raison de vivre” -a reason for living-a purpose in life.

I have been reading a book from one of my fun authors, Jenny Colgan, who uses Scottish settings in many of her plots. (I am drawn to Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and English settings-maybe too much ancestry.com family research.)

In the middle of the story last evening Colgan inserted a personal comment how her main character in the story ” self-medicated” as a child through books because she did, herself, as a child. I wanted to stop and wave my hand ( as if I were still in elementary school) ” Me too, Me too!”

Depending on how my school day had gone-I would grab a snack and race to either my room or my tree seat ( nestled in among branches in the crabapple tree.) My book selection, tried and true, came from my bookshelf of much beloved dog-eared tattered covered books of every genre-happy, sad, calming, exciting, etc-self-medicating.

The author went on to say that she ” could not” rightfully attest or deny whether reading books, as a self-medicating procedure, was a better way of dealing with ‘ real life’ but then she wasn’t sure she believed in this ‘ real life.’ Aren’t books -whisper it-quite a lot better than real life? ”

” In books baddies get their just deserts-blown up, chopped up, or thrown in prison. In real life they are your boss or partner. In books… you get to know what happened and you get an ending. In real life, most times you never get to know what happened… ever? So books get you through the night-the best kind of friend, constantly present and ready to take your troubled thoughts away without asking anything in return.”

So until tomorrow… God be present for us on those long nights when we need a little help from our best friend… YOU!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Whatever Gets You Through the Night

  1. Rachel Edwards says:
    January 14, 2022 at 7:00 am

    Reminds me of our Ellie….she has a crack between her bed and the wall or her large closet where she will disappear to read.

    Reply

Leave a Reply