cheryl strayed

“ Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it werent a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was. ”

“ I didn't know how living outdoors and sleeping on the ground in a tent each night and walking alone through the wilderness all day almost every day had come to feel like my normal life, but it had. It was the idea of not doing it that scared me. ”

“ Writing is part intuition and part trial and error, but mostly it's very hard work. ”

“ I had problems a therapist couldn't solve; grief that no man in a room could ameliorate. ”

“ Nothing bad could happen to me, I thought. The worst thing already had. ”

“ If someone is being unkind or petty or jealous or distant or weird, you dont have to take it in. ”

“ Id done it. it seemed like such a small thing and a tremendous thing at once, like a secret Id always tell myself, though I didnt know the meaning of it just yet. ”

“ You get to define the terms of your life. ”

“ We are all entitled to our opinions and religious beliefs. ”

“ That my complicated life could be made so simple was astounding. ”