When I first read this quote, “I wasn’t humble before God. I didn’t even believe in God. My prayer was not: Please, God, take mercy on us.” from the novel Wild by Cheryl Strayed, I knew that this pushes my heart to the brink. The first thing that came to mind and for some reason spoke out was “Is she an atheist like me?” When I read a few things after why she did not believe in God, I was truly touched by this. She lost her mother due to cancer; moreover, despite the doctors at the Mayo Clinic promised a year that she will live, Strayed’s mother ended up lasting only a month. Strayed was the only one of her siblings to spend significant time with her mother once she got sick, and she dealt with the pain of watching her mother suffer and go into hospice care. As her mother grew weaker, Strayed tracked down her 18-year-old brother Leif, who had not visited even once since the diagnosis. By the time she brought Leif to the hospital, Strayed’s mother had passed away only an hour before. I find this quite heartbreaking! I know how she feels about losing her and I can sympathize about this due to my mom’s illness as well especially when she is still working in her current condition. I stopped believing in any religion due to losing people I cared about, wishing the things that I need that never came true, and seeing the world change for the better or the worst. It really was quite painful to see this all happen right before my eyes and no one, not even gods or goddesses, can change this world. This is something that I must agree to her statement about not believing God as their savior or whatever they may think about him because it never worked and why should it work now.
Wild Ch.3-4 Reflection Summary
I know that this quote is not from the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed, but from Joni Mitchell’s “California”; however, I feel as if this explains my question about who I am and whether I am accepted by anyone or even society itself. The quote that was included in the novel did explain what happened to Strayed’s The Pacific Crest Trail journey and what would happen to her in the future chapters. “Will you take me as I am? Will you?” explains about the hardships of being accepted into the world that we live in and how it can affects us on whether we are in or out of it. The question is that are we somebodies or nobodies in this everyday society that is ruled by mostly stereotypic world or in a changing world that regards every being as equals. This is one of the many questions that I ask in my place in this world or not, but for right now I will take this step by step to find out for myself than let other people tell me what to do to get accepted and what can’t. I know that finding these answers may take a day, week, year, or centuries, and I know that I would never see even a fraction of these questions answered. Nonetheless, I am still committed to get these answers one way or another and strive to understand what it means to be accepted to a society we live in and the future that holds.
Wild Ch.5-6 Reflection Summary
“Alaska, I decided instantly. Because in Alaska there was most definitely ice.” This quote from Wild by Cheryl Strayed reminds me of a time in senior year of high school where we read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer about Christopher McCandless’ journey to the Alaskan wilderness. Once I think about Strayed’s journey as McCandless’, I started to notice the similarities between them. They have both lost many things and witnessed pain right before their eyes even if it is for different reasons. McCandless left due to finding out about his dad married to his mom and another woman and did not divorce that woman, and he feels as if his father is in the wrong; therefore, due to his idealism, he left the household. This is somewhat the same as how Strayed is going for and leaving for her journey,