In the film Wild Reese Witherspoon portrays the solo hiker Cheryl Strayed who hikes the entire Pacific Coast Trail following her tumultuous divorce. During her hike, and while frequently isolated, Strayed forces herself to face her demons so that she can heal them.

It’s an amazing film and it’s based on a true story. I kept thinking the lead actress was a not so pretty Witherspoon, funny how little I knew about the movie until viewing it! 

Here is an edited quote of the final narrative of the movie:

“Wild”

After I lost myself in the wilderness and the grief, I found my own way out of the woods.

And I didn’t know where I was going until I got there…

Thank you, I thought over and over again for everything the trail had taught me and for everything I couldn’t yet know…

I knew that I didn’t need to reach with my bare hands anymore. That seeing the fish beneath the surface of the water was enough. That it was everything. My life, like all lives; mysterious, irrevocable and sacred, so very close, so very present, so very belonging to me. How wild it was to let it be!

I wrote this over a month ago and the parallels with my own life are even more amazing to me today. Since then, I’ve often considered changing my last name to Free yet that might have some negative connotations…. 😉

Image credit

2016.01.26