Falling in place

Learning to fall: the blessings of an imperfect life Philip Simmons Sandwich (NH): Homefarm Books; 2001 155 pp US$25 (cloth) ISBN 0-73884021-1 US$16 (paper) ISBN 0-7388-4022-X

Mrs. R. looked tired, yet her eyes were piercing and her voice determined. “Bal, I need a new way of looking at all of this, something to read. What can you recommend?” For four years we had been patient and physician companions on the unpredictable course of her advanced cancer. I admired her courage and insight, her tenacity and determination. “I think I have just the book for you,” I responded.

Whether we encounter the threat of death as a patient, family member or professional caregiver, we find ourselves confronted by the mysteries that have haunted the human condition since we first acquired the ability to contemplate our own transience. We sense our existential aloneness with quickened pulse. We seek islands of meaning in a sea of unknowing. Philip Simmons' Learning to Fall: the Blessings of an Imperfect Life has earned a permanent place on my bedside table. It helped Mrs. R. Perhaps it may be a help to someone you know.

Philip Simmons was 35 years old when he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Married, with two young children and a promising career as an English professor and writer, he suddenly found himself enrolled in one of life's most challenging immersion courses. To date he had celebrated life's highs and lows with a keen eye and an inquiring mind. Now this!

Simmons has been at a tough school for the past eight years, but now, with the publication of this remarkable book, we are the beneficiaries. For all his disarming honesty and lack of pretense it is evident that Simmons is no ordinary student. He writes, “beyond the dualities of feast and famine we've glimpsed something else: the blessings shaken out of an imperfect life like fruit from a blighted tree … . This book is for those ready to embrace this third way, the way through loss to a wholeness, richness, and depth we had never before envisioned.”

Learning to Fall consists of twelve richly textured, highly entertaining, always informative essays on everything from mud to family life, from the mating practices of frogs to the musings of Marcus Aurelius. With curiosity and wit Simmons introduces us to the mundane yet sacred corners of his world. With “purposeful awareness” and “alert calm” our gifted guide points us toward the healing depths within, the inner peace that is our potential. We come to see through his eyes the wonder that can overflow each moment. We are in the hands of a master craftsman. He presents us with countless “Aha!” moments and nuggets of insight as he explores life's daily experiences — the light and the dark, the savage and the serene — toward a deeper, richer, way.

Learning to Fall is a wonderful achievement. It draws on a wide array of wisdom traditions with discernment, humility and grace. It is never facile, always challenging, uncompromising, yet hopeful. It belongs on the short list of backpack resources for all those who find themselves in need of a guide as they journey to the edge.

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