Jane Eyre

Up to Chapter 14

I guess we all struggle with wanting more from life.  More than what our present situation dictates.  Jane is already restless, having spent a short while, some three months, as a governess in Lowood, her mind is dreaming, her vision is expanding.  As a reminder, for ALL my followers, she left the boarding school where she lived from the time she was ten years old.  She is now a confident eighteen.  She left because she felt a yearning for something different, something new.  This sensation is stirring yet again within her.

"...I desired more of practical experience than I possessed; more of intercourse with my kind, of acquaintance with variety of character than was here within my reach." (p.114)

The household that she now stays at is called Thornfield Hall.  The owner of the house, Mr. Rochester, has just arrived, he is stern, abrupt, and demanding.  This doesn't seem to phase Jane. Something tells me that there is much more to come between Mr. Rochester and Jane.

Jane Eyre

Up to Chapter 10.

Little Miss Jane Eyre has quite a feisty personality.  Her youth and mental immaturity fault her in not being able to tame it.  In her 12 years of life she has lost both parents, lost her uncle, endured emotional and physical abuse from her foster mother and family, and most recently has lost Hellen, who she befriended at boarding school.  She has endured great loss that only a developed individual can conceptualize.  Cast aside by her "foster' mother and enrolled in an all girls boarding school, she is beginning to flourish. All you need is one human to believe in you and encourage you - for Jane, this was Miss. Temple.  Kind, strict but fair - Miss. Temple has opened her spirit and has given her hope to develop into a deserving and productive human being.

Leave it to a classic to offer some meaningful insights. The hype that is created about new ideas in recent times - it was already said, somewhere, some place, in one of the classics and much more eloquently:

"If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends" (pg. 70)

So - in modern day language -  just believe in yourself and the rest will follow!

understanding stocks

I am reading the chapter that talks about investment strategies to make money s-l-o-w-l-y.  It includes brief explanations of types of strategies - a plan that helps you determine what stocks to buy or sell.  I think I may have discovered my investment style - but really at the end of the day it is trial and error to know what works for your lifestyle in practical terms. And, as we know, there are no guarantees of making money through the stock market.

One of the strategies is "Buy and Hold", simply meaning that if you buy stock in a fundamentally sound company and hold if for the long term, you will realize a profit. This strategy seems to have worked pretty well for Warren Buffet, one of the most successful 20th Century buy and hold investors!!!

Next chapter - how to make money fast!!

understanding stocks

I couldn't have asked for a clearer introduction to the stock market.  It is one of those books that gives you the instantaneous "ah ha" moments.  The author hits the necessary points for a general overview of stocks, the stock market, and how to invest.  I would recommend this book to anyone that has had limited to no exposure to the world of NYSE, Nasdaq, Wall Street, Bear, Bull, Mutual Funds, Bonds, and so on...

The stock market is a new way of seeing and understanding how the world prospers or flounders.

More than one at at time

I am reading three books and, surprisingly, liking each one of them for different reasons:

1.  Jane Eyre - It's a classic, thought provoking & insightful

2. Under the Tuscan Sun - Descriptive, enjoyable (how do you say - delightful to read), and inspiring
This book is somehow soothing to absorb. The way Mayes describes her experience thus far in Italy and the process of deciding on a home to purchase is realistic and interesting. She describes her observations and interactions with Italian people with such love and affection.  I am so curious to learn what comes next.

3. Understanding Stocks - Informative, provides the feeling of "I finally understand how the stock market works".

I would recommend this book to anyone who is seeking a clear, concise understanding of the basics of the stock market.  It is a great starting point. Stay tuned for more posts on this book. So, do you know how the term "Wall Street" evolved? I do!

Jane Eyre

chapter 3 & 4

The girl is starting to stand up for herself - way to go Jane! There is really only so much resentment, pain, anger, hurt, sadness one can harbor, sooner or later it starts pouring out, and from Jane, it has started spewing.

What I find interesting, or almost as a disconnect, is that the novel is written in first person, through Jane's eyes, and Jane, at the moment, is about 11 years old.  For an eleven year old she has incredible insight, here's a sample of her understanding of childhood and her inability to express the injustice of adults taking advantage of defenselessness children:

Context: Jane was asked why she was unhappy and her inner dialogue progresses as follows:

"How much I wished to reply fully to this question! How difficult it was to frame my answer! Children can feel but they can not analyze their feelings; and if the analysis is partially effected in thought, they know not how to express the process in words..." ( p. 19)

Can you remember when you were a child and "felt" injustice? Was it possible to protect yourself with words and confidence?

New Reading Path

There are a few new books that I have purchased to replace some of those on the existing "unread list".  Why the change, what happened? Life happened. Insights happened. A call for change happened.

For the change I want, I need to learn, so here are the new books/items that I bought today:

1. World Map
2. Investing for Canadians (For Dummies)
3. Understanding Stocks
4. Under the Tuscan Sun
5. A new journal that says on it:

"She decided to free herself, dance into the wind, create a new language. And birds fluttered around her, writing "yes" in the sky."

Who else wants to grasp everything they can from this earth?