In Giving I Connect With Others

An Essay From "This I Believe"

By: Isabel Allende, Jay Allison - editor, Dan Gediman - editor

Narrated by: Isabel Allende

In her contribution to NPR's This I Believe series, novelist Isabelle Allende reflects on how her daughter's life--and death--taught her that "In Giving I Connect With Others".

This I Believe is a National Public Radio program that features Americans, from the famous to the unknown, completing the thought that begins with the series title. The pieces that make up the program compel listeners to re-think not only what and how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Featuring a star-studded list of contributors that includes John McCain, Isabel Allende, and Colin Powell, as well as pieces from the original 1950's series including Helen Keller and Jackie Robinson, the This I Believe collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer, a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, TX and a man who serves on the state of Rhode Island's parole board. The result is a stirring, funny and always provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of Americans whose beliefs, and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them, reveal the American spirit at its best.

This short audio essay is an excerpt from the audiobook edition of the This I Believe anthology.

This I Believe

Love E Allende's books & loved this short piece of hers. She writes from her heart & this piece reminds us to love & give from our hearts

Essential Principles of Living Richly in Spirit

Narration: Rather delightful speech profile Her accent is noticeably but in a manner that is measured and thoughtful.

Content: Loss of her daughter was extraordinarily painful. Allende courageously embraced human service and love of all human kind as means of honoring he daughter's memory.

Beautiful

I think what she is saying is universal even if you have not suffered her loss---give. Give of yourself.

Isabel Allende

Her wisdom always reaches a bit deeper inside of me… thank you for writing to me.