Pilgrimage of Desire: An Explorer's Journey Through the Labyrinths of Life

by Alison Gresik

"Trying to craft a meaningful life and wanting someone’s story to accompany you? Read this book. Alison is an extraordinary writer and thinker - her prose and her insights have me reading and rereading her words. This is Eat, Pray, Love for real life. I adore this book!”
Jennifer Louden, best-selling author of The Woman’s Comfort Book and personal growth teacher

What happens if you neglect your creativity for too long? You can stumble into depression.

As a young adult, Alison Gresik longed to make her mark on the world as a writer. But after university, she got sidetracked by all the demands of ordinary life.

Soon she joined the ranks of the walking working, volunteering, and looking after her family, all while profoundly unhappy.

Alison found the path out of depression by following her desires—to write, to travel, to become a mother and a creativity coach. Eventually she left ordinary life behind. Her husband quit his job and they sold their house and headed out on an open-ended trip around the world with their kids, aged five and three.

Alison’s story of recovery and adventure is interspersed with coaching questions and exercises, which help readers take their own steps toward happiness.

From a honeymoon in Newfoundland, through two adoption trips to China, and on a year-long sojourn in Malaysia and Holland, come along with Alison Gresik on a heroine’s journey to joyful creativity.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 21, 2015

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful, more or less

While I didn’t exactly identity with a lot of the author’s life and experiences, some of her assignments really resonated with me.

I would have liked to have read more about her battle with depression and less about the exotic locales she and her husband visited as well as how the depression affected her writing. Some of that is in here, I just wish there was more because that’s what I really felt attached to as I read.

[Katy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more and more as I went along. It had a lot of interesting observations and suggestions but at the beginning there was something I found difficult in the writing style. perhaps it was the break in the story when the small sections of advice started. But, as I said, I was drawn in more and more and admired her courage and honesty and felt comforted by her constant battles with colds which is something I struggle with too.

[Jamie Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t typically read memoirs, but last spring my friend Alison Gresik published her travel memoir, Pilgrimage of Desire. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed that it took me this long to get around to reading it. I’m also very glad that I finally made the time to travel alongside Alison on her journey.

In the afterword, Alison beautifully sums up the purpose behind her labors on this book ~

I wrote Pilgrimage of Desire for all those who feel trapped in a life that doesn’t let them practice their creativity in a way that feeds their soul, for those who have so much to express but have boxed themselves in with rules and responsibilities.

The book is an account of several milestone events in Alison’s life including the adoption of her two children, and the reinvention of her domestic life when she and her husband embarked on an open-ended trip around the world when their kids were only five and three, and her battle with walking depression. Interwoven with these stories, Alison shares her experience of walking the “desire lines” writing passion.

Alison’s is a story full of simple yet poignant discoveries. As she says of why her modest story matters, “Because it’s not exotic and sensational. I’m not unusual or extraordinary. I’m just a woman who decided to stop trying to be a good girl and go after what she wanted. A woman who realized that she could do more for the world by being herself.”

One of my favorite passages in Pilgrimage tells of Alison’s experience of rediscovering her own god, Amma, while walking a labyrinth at a women’s retreat. I also loved the honest thoughts she shared about the fears and desires each of us has about her creative work such as, “I needed to reframe work as something I did for myself as much as others – a way of caring for myself, a source of meaning and joy, not just of money and approval.”

And this moment, when she addressed her work-in-progress, made me want to stand up and cheer,

Pilgrimage, let’s have some angels join us in the writing. The Angel of Flow, who wears watered silk in shades of blue. The Angel of Love in pink spandex. The Angel of Poetry, black and white words dripping off her fingers. The Angel of Getting Your Shit Together, in tight jeans and a rock-and-roll T-shirt. The Angel of Truth and Beauty, who combines the grace of Venus with the mouth of a trucker. Together we’re going to rock this manuscript.

At the end of each chapter, Alison includes exercises that you, as a fellow seeker of creative fulfillment, can use to help uncover your own patterns, motivations, and triggers. She draws on her experience as a student and creative coach, generously sharing words of wisdom and resources she has found on her journey.

If you are an artist and a seeker, if you are someone who is trying to find your way on a creative journey and might benefit from following the faintly luminescent trail of someone who has walked the labyrinth before you, Alison Gresik’s memoir, Pilgrimage of Desire might be the perfect traveling companion.

Originally posted as part of a weekend edition on the writing blog, Live to Write - Write to Live.

[Ariane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Pilgrimage of Desire (I received a free copy to review), and I can only feel upon finishing it that it was written just for me. Of course it wasn't, but it really felt I was reading one very long letter written to me by a trusted confidante slightly ahead of me in years, like having the older sister I didn't luck into having divulge all the details of how she worked through these questions herself. It tackled so many subjects that in my mid-30's I've been having to face and find my way through: health struggles, my relationship with my parents, the question of whether (and how) to have children, and how to stop living for others and create a creative life that actually serves my needs and desires. The thing that struck me most while reading Pilgrimage of Desire was how intentionally the author lives her life. Her use of metaphor and spirituality as guiding forces to create meaning is something I very much lack in my own life, though I was never really aware of it before now. This book has given me a lot to think about, and will certainly stay with me for a long time to come.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've corresponded with Alison online and have checked out her website once in a while, so I was really interested to read her book. I actually devoured it and read it in two stints. I found that I could relate to some of what she went through and some of her own struggles. However, since I know she is a coach, I wanted more, and I wanted to find out how she pulls herself through creative blocks. That said, I liked the minutiae of this book and the details.

Alison and her husband decide to follow their hearts and sell their home in Ottawa, travelling for a year and living in Michigan, Malaysia and Europe before settling in Vancouver. I think I need a little more time to digest this book, actually. I feel like I did learn a lot from Alison's experience, and will check out some of the exercises she shares in this book.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a feeling I'd love this book, but I had no idea just how much I'd love it. I'm not sure exactly what made it so special, but rarely do you get to see so deeply into someone's heart, then step back and look at your own life in such a way that you feel seen in just the same way. Alison has a rare gift. This book was a gift, because it reminded me that the way for creative people to make meaning of their lives and walk through depression is to CREATE. Alison, thank you, thank you, thank you. I think you may have saved my life.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Tina at Mommynificent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well-written and feels like sitting and chatting with a friend over coffee. I loved reading about Alison's travels and hearing her inner thoughts while going through so many changes in her life. As in any conversation with a friend, there were many things for me to learn from as well as things I didn't necessarily agree with. All told, I enjoyed the "chat" and learned from her perspective.