Reaction to “wild” by Cheryl Strayed

Reaction to “wild” by Cheryl Strayed

I had not expected there to be so many details of her life in this book. It was not just about nature and the animals she saw while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. The book was about her life and her soul.

The story began with her mother’s death. It hurt her deeply. That drove her to do drugs, develop a sex addiction and she ended her relationship with her husband. While reading that part, I thought of my own mother and I recognized that this is what I’ve always avoided thinking about. I feel like crying when I think of my mother in regards to serious matters. When I was two or three, I began to be afraid of losing my mother. She is completely healthy and Japan is the one of the safest countries in the world, but still I cried every night imagining her death. I know how much my mother loves me and that made me sad. That made me afraid of saying goodbye to her someday. So, I understood her despair, and felt empathy for her