Book Review - Wild by Cheryl Strayed

wild

Book Review

…a true story about a brave young woman who forged her identity and sought meaning out of her tragedies and tribulations, ditching what society and close family members and friends deemed irrational.

Around 7:30 pm, on Christmas, the second day of my winter break, I’d finished the final pages from Wild. Sometimes, as ludicrous as it may sound, I felt as if I was hiking beside her, feeling emotionally and physically exhausted and ready to quit – yet Cheryl, the author, was there, so were the the unworn, unread pages in my hand, that made more than half of the book, assuring me that this journey would be completed and that “we” would be through it together. Of course, both experiences were worlds apart - her hiking and me reading.

Summarizing her hiking experience is beyond my ability and desire. The joy lies within the journey, not the destination, even if the journey in this case is to read through her adventure. However, I did come to some conclusions that have perhaps altered my perception of the world. For, there is nothing as joyful as living through a second life by reading the biographies/life adventures of others.

Here are my thoughts:

Be irrational. Though you should feel a sense of reason and inward empathy toward your decision, or what some might call, a gut feeling, you need to understand that it will come off as bizarre and sound preposterous to those outside your mind. Even close ones. When Cheryl decided to hike the PCT, even Paul, her closest friend and ex-husband, advised her otherwise, suggesting a shorter hike. She knew better, even though there she’d admitted feeling a bit anxious about the hike and came to understand later that she wasn’t the most well-equipped, well-educated hiker on the PCT, but it had to be done.

Beginnings suck. Everything seems at fault when setting off to do something non-routine-like or deviant from normal thought – normal being a fictitious yet reliably comparable standard set by your circle of influences, your family and friends. Their words echo at every stumbling step you’ll inevitably encounter. Everything will seem hopeless, like an object full of pores, incomplete. Yet, as you’ll come to realize when you’ve gone through and trusted your instinct, that those exact pores, those exact imperfections, are what made your experience whole. The more your decisions in life are deviant, the more you’ll come to appreciate those imperfections, even at the early stages of your decision. You’ll come to realize that, in the end, it’s all worth it.

Trust and let go. Whatever you want to trust in, but trust. Trust people, trust karma, trust God, trust your instincts, but you have to trust in something to move forward. Yet, when I mention the words “have to,” I’m not implying nor encouraging a sense of burden, by all means, allow it to come naturally. But, seek it.

Work hard. Feel consumed by the work you love, delve in it, devour and savor every moment. Skill gives value; developing skill in a practice you love will make you feel useful and helpful. Yes, it should not define your value, because one’s life is worth much more than a mere skill or sets of skills, yet it adds to your value nonetheless. Working hard is your path to sweet independence figuratively and literally speaking.