I approached this book with some trepidation - I mean how exciting could a 315 page book about hiking a trail be? I anticipated being bored for good chunks of the book, yet....I was not just pleasantly surprised, I was elated to find myself thoroughly enjoying this book. Strayed wrote this so well, I was drawn to it over and over again to discover the people she met, the animals she encountered (even the snakes!) and the travails she overcame.
A part of me was jealous that she had the stamina, but even more so the personal freedom to embark on this challenge. Whether it is nature or nature or my own fear or limitations, whatever you want to call it - I don't believe I have the personality to be that untethered to venture out with little preparation, with no Plan B. My spontaneity is not having hotel reservations on a road trip, or getting off the interstate to drive a local route (a marked, local route). Heck, I got nervous walking a poorly marked trail in a 259 acre CITY park!
So, the other part of me was not at all jealous of her adventure. I enjoy wildlife from a distance, a far distance, and snakes - don't even enjoy them. At the first site of a rattler I would have dropped all my gear and called it quits!
Like Cheryl, I think when you try to embark on something grandiose such as this to "find yourself" you envision having this moment(s) of clarity, a transcendence, when in fact you end up thinking (or trying not to think) about how painful each step is, how hungry you are, what that noise was behind you - the daily or hourly, minute details that we all get caught up in. It isn't until the end of the journey that you understand that the clarity was in the process of the minute, its in the reflection of how you dealt with the difficult and the simple, its in letting yourself be quiet enough to let your soul speak to you and you taking the time to listen. This can be done on months long hiking expedition, in a yoga class, in a soup kitchen, or in your own backyard - and can be done without encountering a single snake! ;-)
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