October 4, 2015 - 21:21
As I'm reading Wild, I'm thinking to myself that Cheryl Strayed has lived a life that parents and teachers and authority figures have warned me about. Very quickly and unabashedly, she has described every dangerous twist of fate--drugs, death, divorce, abortion, infidelity--that I've been afraid of for as long as I can remeber. Don't give these things the chance to hurt you. That is the message we're all given from the start. But Cheryl has, miraculously, survived it all. I'm impressed by her tenacity, but a little more by her luck. Her life has given her every opportunity to end up a cautionary tale, and yet, here she is, living a fulfilling life and speaking at colleges and promoting her book. I am thinking of Chris McCandless' tragic end and Thoreau's visit at Walden Pond, and other things that might prove that Mother Nature's love is the toughest of them all. I don't think there's a lot of suspense (I'm only halfway through), and I think I know how it will turn out for her, but I'm eager to read on because no matter how much the hike proved to be worth for Cheryl, I still don't plan on doing the PCT anytime soon.