"Wild" by Cheryl Strayed

Attention my grief-stricken friends. Are you looking for a tender, soulful book that will help you deal with the stages of grief with clarity and beautiful insight? Then, you need to read the best-selling nonfiction memoir "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed. It's one woman's journey alone on a 1,100 mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail after the death of her mother. The author starts out as a weary, promiscuous, depressed 26 year-old woman four years after the loss of her mother and moments from the end of a marriage. She happens across a book at an REI store one day about the Pacific Crest Trail; a mostly desolate stretch of national hiking trails that starts in New Mexico and runs the entire length of the west coast all the way up to Canada. After dabbling in drugs sleeping around and divorce, Strayed spirals out from grief and makes a decision to hike 1,100 miles alone on the PCT in order to deal with her grief. What she finds in herself, in others, and in nature will stay with you long after she puts her brown hiking books away and packs away her writing pen. You will have the opportunity to explore grief, journey with the author, feel the weight of grief in her 40-pound backpack, and might be surprised what you find at the end of the journey. I could relate to the author in regards to the loss of her mother and realizing pretty early on in her journey that the worst thing in life has already happened so why not hike a trail alone. "The death of my mother was the thing that made me believe the most deeply in safety; nothing bad could happen to me, I thought. The worst thing already had" (Strayed). "Wild" was an incredible book. It had a hypnotic, cathartic rhythm that I felt deep in my soul. It was heartwarming, heartbreaking, and poetic. The author has a way with words in exploring the past and shedding new light on her life as she hikes through New Mexico all the way up the western seaboard until she reached "The Bridge of the Gods" in Oregon. As I read through the miles with Strayed on the trail, I too was on her journey learning how to take grief and use it to create positivity. The book has many important lessons for people in life dealing with the loss of a loved one due to death, the loss of a loved one due to divorce and lastly, the loss of yourself and how to find your way back. I finished reading the book during the same week in September that Strayed finished her hike some eighteen years earlier. I laughed, cried, sobbed, wailed, and breathed with Strayed. Her prosy narrative was just what the doctor ordered for my weary, grief-stricken soul. The earthly, poetic language washed over me like holy water at church and the words were Band-Aids over my fresh grief wounds.This book was fantastic! You know a book is fantastic when you cry at the end because not only was it life-altering, but you’re sad it's over. Before I read this book, I lost my mother, my father, and an unborn child. I was at a crossroads in life. I was not sure where to turn, who to turn to, and not sure what the future without my parents would hold." I may not have hiked a trail for 1,100 miles alone but I too took a journey in order to heal and found myself. I journeyed 3,500 from home alone to join other women on a healing, restorative journey to find myself and I found my mother instead. I found my mother in the trees that were wide-open and full of hope. I found my mother in the wind. I heard her call to me in the laughter of little children one afternoon as I meditated in the wet, green grass. I found my mother joining me during evening yoga sessions and when I opened up my hips and raised my arms to the sky, I let grief out. I found my mother in the photos I took throughout my journey, showing up as a beautiful purple light that swelled around my face and comforted me. I found my mother's spirit in other women on my journey who made me feel the love only women can radiate out from their souls. I found my mother on the Eiffel Tower in Paris as rain trickled out of the sky and formed goose pimples on my bare arms telling me I should have worn long sleeves. I found my mother staring at me through the deep, charcoal eyes of a French horse named Romeo. I found my mother in English breakfast tea at a Café in Chantilly, France as the warm, soothing feeling washed over me when I drank it. I found my mother staring back at me when I looked in the mirror after crying and for the first time in my life, I was happy I looked like my mother. I found my mother in the brillantly colored vocal Rooster that woke us each morning and welcomed us each night. I found my mother in the yellow and black Butterfly that floated into our writing salon, and delicately balanced on the wooden coffee table for over eight hours. And, I found my mother literally in the subway station in Paris when the locket containing her ashes fell off and I finally found her laying behind me on the ground. I found out I do not have to let her go, because she never left me. Award-winning actress, Reese Witherspoon a few years ago picked up the book “Wild,” and read it in a single day. It moved her so much that she called the author and told her she wanted to make a movie based on the book and that she would play the lead role based on Cheryl's life. She promised the author she would keep the integrity of the book in-tact. On December 6, 2014 "Wild" hits movie theaters nationwide. So far, the movie has been favorably reviewed and critics are talking “Reese” and “Oscars” in the same sentence. I saw the movie trailer the other day and it looks like it will be a beautiful and restorative journey for everyone who has ever lost something themselves and will go to any length to get a piece of themselves back. You can view the YouTube trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn2-GSqPyl0. Thank you Cheryl Strayed for telling your story. Thank you for letting people in, for opening up your hips while falling down and letting grief out. You let your grief run onto the pages of your book and I am so grateful to you for writing every bleak and painful moment that you had the courage to share. You helped me grieve well. To learn more about Cheryl Strayed, please visit her website: http://www.cherylstrayed.com/. Grieve well friends, read "Wild," and then go see the movie. Christina