“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
I must go camping. Outdoors. I don’t want to do it but I suspect, deep down, that I cannot. I wonder if I should give it a shot. As I began reading Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild,” I compared her experience level at the beginning of her journey to my own. I thought if she could hike the Pacific Coast Trail from the Mojave Desert to the Bridge of the Gods on the Oregon-Washington border, I could possibly survive a few days out there. Probably.
The memoir is exquisitely written, covering the author's physical and spiritual journey on the Pacific Coast Trail. We're about the same age--she is one year older. Cheryl left her home, her family and her marriage behind in the first week of June, 1995 to head down to Mojave, California and hike back up to the Pacific Northwest.
I was headed there myself that week, albeit in a car. I did not leave my marriage behind--though just two months earlier I'd vowed to let it leave without me. By the time June arrived, I'd decided to go with my husband and we each drove a car over 2,500 miles from New Orleans to Tacoma, taking turns chauffeuring the dog.
In 1995, I remember thinking that I should have already finished a novel--the same thought the author has during her hike.
I could publish a novel. I want to do it but I suspect, deep down, that I cannot. I wonder if I have truly given it a fair shot. I finished reading “Wild.” I compared Cheryl Strayed's writing style to my own and am both inspired and humbled. There is still a chance I could make it as a hiker.
I was headed there myself that week, albeit in a car. I did not leave my marriage behind--though just two months earlier I'd vowed to let it leave without me. By the time June arrived, I'd decided to go with my husband and we each drove a car over 2,500 miles from New Orleans to Tacoma, taking turns chauffeuring the dog.
In 1995, I remember thinking that I should have already finished a novel--the same thought the author has during her hike.
I could publish a novel. I want to do it but I suspect, deep down, that I cannot. I wonder if I have truly given it a fair shot. I finished reading “Wild.” I compared Cheryl Strayed's writing style to my own and am both inspired and humbled. There is still a chance I could make it as a hiker.
