Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsUnderstand Empathy
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2017
What’s the experience like?
Strayed’s ability to elicit empathy and peace in even some of the darkest of stories is incredibly moving. At many points in the book I came up with a lake of epiphanies, and reinforced some pre-existing ones. I want to share them, but I’ll just lunge the few that made the tuning forks in my mind purr:
1. Guilt and shame, while closely inhibited, are very different things.
2. Sexual anxiety and jealousy are often guised as extreme monogamy
3. The questions you most often don’t want to ask are the ones that most often need answering.
4. We control very little. Thoughts, emotions, even logic and reason are unsolicited conditions that are ever changing.
5. Beliefs lag behind reality
You will laugh. You will cry; definitely cry. Make sure you keep a box of Sham-Wows nearby.
Why should I read this?
It will make you less of a bug buzzing intolerant poop-stick. It will make you realize your problems are not special. You will, without doubt, come across a letter that sounds like it was written by you, maybe slightly more or less extreme, and you will feel a part of yourself get soul-crushed and healed as you read the very sentences. It will show that you and the people around you are okay. It will bring you closer to the answer of what love is. It will make you question what love is. Wait.
How do I apply this to my life?
Empathy is the pipeline of trust, connection, and understanding in our relationships. You’ll nurture a greater sense of that with this book.
