*First, We Make The Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson was such a beautiful and funny read. This book talks about Wilson’s struggles with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, Hashimoto’s disease, and more.
Wilson lives a very interesting nomadic life where she typically does not stay in one place much longer than 6 months. Except for when she lived in the woods for a few years. She has worked with Cosmopolitan magazine and newspapers where she has been able to interview some really incredible people like Dalai Lama and Brene Brown.
Not only does she share her own personal successes and failures (in grimmy and fabulous ways), but she was sure to include many many studies from many universities. I mean really everything she passes on is backed up from research. And from writers too.
She talks a lot about the Something Else which I have yet to hear (or read) anyone talk about it. So, it was nice to learn that I am not the only one who ponders on the Something Else. And guess what? She hasn’t seemed to pin it down either.
Other than reflections, there are two big points of the book - more on the physical side - which include the importance of walking and meditating. However, I’ll let her be the one to tell you about it.
“David Brooks feels deeply that the endpoint of the anxious journey is the acquiring of character. Writing about the world’s greatest thinkers and leaders who pass through suffering before arriving at their significant position in history in the New York Times, he suggests, ‘Many people don’t come out healed, they come out different.’
I rather love this line. It suggests a subtle transformation or perspective shift, but one that’s perfectly pitched for showing you the truth of life. For me I didn’t come out healed, I emerged from that touch-and-go Thursday with a calm knowing. A connection. A full, deep sense of the Something Else. A weather vane at my core for what mattered. I also emerged knowing this was enough. It was perfect.” -- Sarah Wilson, First, We Make the Beast Beautiful.
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