A very dear friend sent me Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild: From
Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.
I’m about halfway through this unusual memoir about a woman who had
literally lost her way in life and decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, an
arduous and dangerous, at times, journey from Mexico to Canada along the rim of
mountains that stretch north to south a couple of hundred miles east of the
West Coast of North America.
It’s already a wonderful reading experience for me, because
the author is thrown into a tail spin by the death of her beloved mother and
some of her reactions are so similar to trouble I’ve been having settling the
death of my father into my soul. But it is an absolutely fabulous read for
anyone. You’ll find yourself experiencing laughter, trepidation, sorrow, relief
and great joy along with Strayed.
I did want to share this book with other readers, but that
wasn’t the main purpose of this post. I felt a tremendous need to comment on
how healing reading can be. I’ve read a number of books this past year that
have touched me in one way or another, softening edges or making clear some
point I hadn’t been able to resolve myself.
However, this particular pain I’ve been experiencing is only one of the
many times reading a wonderful book has come to my rescue.
Often, by reading of the hardships of others, as in The Grapes
of Wrath, appreciation for my own lucky life has taken hold and shaken me out
of complacency. Passages or whole books
filled with joy also fill me with joy. Where I’ve struggled to find the right
vehicle for a portion of a book I’ve been working on, I will read something
like Portnoy’s Complaint and realize exactly what I need to do.
I have always been a prodigious reader and thank the heavens
for that. Isn’t it wonderful that we endeavor as humans to communicate and it
so often works? What a miracle.
Here’s wishing you a miraculous experience as both a reader
and a writer, if that’s your passion.
Beautiful comment on how writing and reading can effect us.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dannie. I'm missing your wonderful blog posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting. I look forward to checking this out. I love it when I get a really great recommend. So, here's one from me to you. As a writer, I often find it difficult to be inspired. We hear so often that "writers write" that is just what we are suppose to do. So, what do I do when I can't "just write it out"? I read The War of Art. I repeat...The War of Art (Not the Art of War)lol two very different topic. I was so inspired and, found it to be the swift kick to the backside I often need to give myself as an artist.
ReplyDeleteTina - thank you so much!! I will definitely check that out. I need all the help I can get, especially lately. I had never heard of the this one. The War of Art (yes, I did read it wrong the first time)
Delete