I know I don't usually post about books, but I had to comment on this crazy woman. I'm reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed and I'll start off by saying I'm really enjoying it. But I also think she is table flipping, Teresa Guidice nuts. First off if you aren't familiar with the book it is basically a memoir I guess about this woman's journey on the Pacific Coast Trail. After she has some kind of meltdown because of her infidelities, divorces her husband, and changes her last name to Strayed (um, so you screwed up and cheated on your husband...I don't really think you need to advertise it with a new last name. Why not just call yourself Cheryl Bigfatslutpuppy then?) she decides to hike the Pacific Coast Trail...by herself.
Let's review all the ways that this is something I would NEVER do.
First off, I won't even walk down the service road to an old construction site behind our house by myself and you can see houses almost the entire way. Everyone knows crazy people live in the woods. If it wasn't true then they wouldn't make so many movies about them (Have you seen Deliverance or Wrong Turn?). Why tempt fate?
Secondly, she doesn't even bring a weapon other than a whistle and a ski pole. There are bears along this trail. Bears! I have been fishing in Alaska twice and the guides do not go anywhere without having a rifle along because of the threat of bears and I can assure you that they are more bad ass than some 26 year old, single, white female on a nature walk.
Third, I see a lot of stuff on facebook or in based on true events movies in which things don't turn out so well for the person going on these trips alone. Have you seen Into the Wild? That jackass (God rest his idiotic soul) hitch hiked his entitled ass into Alaska without telling his family where he was going so they sat at home and worried about him and then he died. Alone. Because he's an asshole. If you're gonna hike alone then there's a good chance you're gonna die alone. No thank you.
Fourth, she wears the same clothes the ENTIRE JOURNEY. As I'm reading this book all I can think is how utterly disgusting she must smell cause it's not like she has a lot of opportunities for showering until she gets to the equivalent of a crazy, PCT hiker rest area every 100+ miles. And even after she showers she has to put her dirty clothes back on!
Fifth, I have no idea what year it's supposed to be. It seems as if she was raised by hippies and her brother seems like a pot smoking hippy. But she had a heroin problem during her meltdown so who knows. Jerry Garcia dies in the book so it's whatever year Jerry Garcia died. I have no idea. I'm not a hippy (although I think I totally would've been if I had lived in the 70's except for the dreadlocks, not shaving parts because I think dreadlocks just mean you don't wash your hair and are disgusting. I hate going to a restaurant and having a server with dreadlocks. Gag.). If I had lived in the 50's though I totally would've rocked being a housewife. Maybe.
Sixth, did I mention she hitch hikes? What crazy person in today's society hitch hikes? Apparently she has never watched Criminal Minds or CSI or heard of serial killers.
Seven, sleeping in a tent on a trail has less appeal to me than um just about everything else in life. I have slept in a tent 4 times in my life. Once at a drunken island party during college. I was drunk. It was college. That's pretty much all I remember other than waking up covered in paint and vomit. Good times. Second, when my sister and I did the Breast Cancer 3 day as walkers and the next year as volunteers. And that doesn't really count because we were in a park/field with about 2000 other people. And last when we visited our friends in NY last summer and they already had an overnight camping trip planned. I liked the hanging out picnic style eating crap, there was a pool, and I liked drinking wine around the fire. We should've then driven the 10 minutes back to their house to sleep because the rest was THE LONGEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE. Live and learn my friends. Live and learn.
I'm sure I'm totally missing the point of her life altering journey alone, but I just can't get over all of the above (and a million other ones I'm sure I'm forgetting right now because I don't know how much longer Stinks is going to nap for). I know she didn't die because I think I saw her on Oprah or read about this in O magazine and obviously she wrote a book. I have about 30 more pages until I finish.
I hear Stinks waking up. Enter my BuggyLove giveaway! It ends tomorrow!
I am also a military mommy so I enjoy your blog however, I felt the need to comment here - just for the sake of a different perspective....
ReplyDeletefirst, I think before anyone can comment on a divorce/major life tragedy/other type of huge life changing event (no matter WHAT the cause was or wasn't) they need to have gone through one themselves. I am not sure if you have been through a divorce or not, but I have and it's AWFUL. and my first husband is an incredible person. but to even label that event ‘life changing’ as I have, is to say the very least about it. It’s bad. Real bad. I read ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ 900 million times to help myself get through that time in my life. Horrible. So, if this woman chooses to change her last name to whatever she wants and embark on an adventure alone, good for her. It’s probably something she needs to get through this part of her life. I admire her facing her tragedy alone. I couldn’t.
secondly, I do agree that a gun might have been a good idea but maybe she trusts the gut feeling she has to even take on this journey and that was enough for her? Same for the dude hitch-hiking to Alaska. My brother hitch-hikes to Alaska every single summer to go salmon fishing and he has made quite a few friends that way that are near and dear to his heart. There is an entirely different culture in the wilderness than what people of suburban America are exposed to. The type of people hitch-hiking to Alaska have an understanding with one another. It’s not crazy to them. They are so isolated up there, they have to rely on one another. Before cities and towns were standard, that’s how most of human civilization worked.
Third, I think wearing the same clothes the entire journey is very practical. That way, she has nothing to carry. Also, if you are going on this type of journey, mainstream hygiene and fashion are not your priority anymore. It’s about much more than that. She isn’t focused on whether she smells good or not or has brushed her hair recently. She is focusing on something much deeper than that.
Fourth, I laughed when you wrote, “I'm not a hippy” mostly because you spelled “hippie” wrong ☺ but I think something needs to be said here about labeling people. I can’t seem to figure out when the label “hippie” became a derogatory term in our culture. I assume in the ‘70’s when it was associated with drugs and group sex or something to that nature? But overall, I don’t think hippies are ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ or even ‘harmful’ as people. They are simply walking to the beat of their own drum and I think that is a positive move in this society we live in that wants us all to be sheep. That never works out nicely.
Fifth, I would sleep outside in a tent every night if I could. Those are some of my most favorite childhood memories. We camped all. the. time. I think it’s very good for the soul to get out of our concrete jungles and rowed neighborhoods in our brick homes and breath some fresh air, listen to some birds and stare at the stars. Reconnect with nature. That is something civilization has completely lost touch with and is very unnatural to us. getting out in the woods reconnects us to our ancestral past and forces you to get away from the tv, the phone, the ipad, the laptop….etc. have conversations that are not interrupted by technological devices or whatever else we cloud our lives with. It’s a wonderful place to refocus on what is truly important in life. I would be willing to bet all the solitary time this woman spent in the woods allowed her to re-center herself, rediscover what is important in her life and help her get past her infidelity and all of the guilt and negative emotions that come with that.
Again, let me say I enjoy your blog – it’s on my reading list – but I really felt strongly about presenting a different perspective to this woman’s story. I have not read this book but will definitely add it to my queue now! She sounds terribly interesting and I do admire her adventurous spirit and personal strength to take on such a task. Good for her!
I am also divorced and I could never say anything bad about my exhusband. He is a great person and was a great husband. The divorce was all me.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the book and actually ended up admiring Cheryl when her journey was over. I wrote the post trying to be funny (although I do think it's foolish in today's society, especialy as a single woman, to do such things on your own. I do appreciate your view points and your comment though.