"Learning to Breathe" by Alison Wright

“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.” – Chinese Proverb

            It is perhaps a stretch to call me a true traveler of the world. I am more a woman with no real sense of, what I would call, relative distance. I make my home where I need to, for the time being, until it is time to move on. I have yet to make a decision on where to live based on where my family is, and this, I think, has given me a bit of a reputation for travel. I rarely go anywhere outside of the town that I am living in at the moment, though and have only been outside of the USA twice. My heart lies in that direction though - To be a true traveler of the world. That coupled with my ever increasing desire to read everything ever written, ever – has sometimes led me to little gem of books like this one, 

“Learning to Breathe” by Alison Wright.

            One of my favorite genera’s of books would be what I have dubbed “Adventure Travel/ Personal Essay”. There is probably a better name for it, somewhere, but this suits me well. Usually, to be in this category the books are about one person’s really long travel adventure to a really cool place around the globe. They take place in a time span of anywhere between a couple of weeks to about four years tops. The writer/adventurer gives a good story about what happened and what they were thinking at the time, but mostly just crazy people that they met on the way. (See “Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost” for a great example and another one of my favorites.) This book goes a step further. That step is why this book will be on my bookshelf of favorites and books to give to other people for a very long time. 

Let me explain:

            Alison Wright is a photo journalist. She has a soft spot for children and South East Asia. One day while on a bus in Laos she is in a terrible accident. Her organs were in the incorrect places and she could not walk for a very long time. She does not want to give up her old life of travel, adventure, and fun though (I mean, who would?) and so against her initial Doctor’s opinion she does exactly that. This book is a memoir of her journey to recovery, and even achieving her goal to summit Mount Kilimanjaro on her fortieth birthday. It was inspirational to read. While I cannot truly or fully empathize with her, I could see the direction she was coming from just from things that have happened in my own life. Sadly, I have found myself devastatingly wanting in my life since a couple of huge accidents that had my guardian angels working double-time. But, that is a different blog post.

            The step farther that Alison takes in her book is the spiritual one. I can tell from reading this that she is a deeply spiritual person, and that that side of things was just as important as overcoming the physical limitations that she suddenly had in her life. Maybe it is because I have been witness to this in my own life so recently, but she talks about how some things happened to her because the right person just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. How, through a courageous journey she has come out the other side with more clarity than she ever imagined before this happened to her.

            I recommend this book to EVERYONE. Alison will take you through this time in her life in a way that has you questioning your own purpose on this spinning rock, and whether or not you are fulfilling that purpose.

            I am coming away from it a better woman for reading it, and I believe that in most cases it would be a benefit to your life to read it as well. Although I do have to warn you that it gave me the travel bug bad, so be prepared for that.

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“It had taken finding a stillness within myself to realize the answer to my question of why I had survived: for this breath. To be truly aware of each precious moment of time, right here, right now. For this very moment is all we have”

“We were all in this together, all companions in the pilgrimage of life.”

-Excerpts from Learning to Breathe

AA : Realities in Island Life

I think that I expected too much from this place and time. In a way this island has been a breath of fresh air in my system. Giving me the moment that I needed to catch my breath. I was still expecting to have more of an ADVENTURE though, and the fact that I have not is a bit depressing.

Which brings me to a few things that I have learned since being here....

1: The adventure is in your outlook on things. I came to a fishing resort and not only have I not gone fishing even once - but I have no desire to go. So when the only activities I do involve me hiking two whole miles to a small waterfall, I must find my own adventures. 

2: No matter where I ever live - the night is still my favorite time of day. It is a universal truth in my little world of wandering.

3: Like attracts like. This is something that I really should have figured out by now but it has really taken this long to sink in I suppose. But to be surrounded by awesome people, you have to be awesome. You have to be the intelligent, well read, active person you want to have around you.

4: There is a reason for me to be in certain places and meeting certain people where ever I go. This truth has never been more poignantly expressed to me than here in this island in the middle of nowhere. To know that the choice to come here brought me to someone who has changed my life for the rest of my life. Even if the most unfortunate of happenings occurred and I was to never see this man again after he steps on the float plane back to California - I will still have experienced this summer with him and have had the conversations we have. Out of all the times that I listened to God, the universe, my gut- whatever you want to call it- I will be eternally grateful that I listened this time.

5: You can never assume anything about anyone. They will always surprise you. I have found here a melting pot of people that has surpassed the wide variety that I have met in my travels so far. I have my usual misfits and travels and then I have people who have tried and failed at life in some way and are now picking themselves back up. They surprise me on a daily basis and in their own way they show me that humanity is going in the general right direction. 

6: I really suck at guessing people's age. This is now a concrete truth for me and I will no longer even attempt to guess anymore.

My season her is almost over. I feel in this moment that even though I will most likely not be returning to this place as I had hoped in the beginning, I will never regret the coming.