Gift from the Sea

Women, argues Lindbergh in Gift from the Sea, have always had a special relationship to the “inner life” and to the spiritual life. Men traditionally oriented their attentions toward the “outer” world of politics, work, and the public sphere. They typically directed their energies toward practical activity and action, toward influencing and changing what was external to them. This is evident, for example, in the efforts men put into technology, business, and warfare. In contrast, women traditionally were not afforded the chance to participate in these areas. Thus, as Lindbergh says, “The very limitations of her life forced her to look inward” (65). Finding no outlet in the outer world and no means to explore there, women were compelled to explore and focus on the inner world of immediate consciousness and the self. They were led to put their energies into observing and finding beauty in the closeness of experience and the moment. Similarly, their confinement to the home encouraged such inwardness and attention. As Lindbergh writes, “In the small circle of the home she has never quite forgotten the particular uniqueness of each individual member of the family; the spontaneity of now; the vividness of here” (143). Whereas men often dealt with large, impersonal groups, women usually attended to and saw only a handful of people.