Is it really possible to do something alone?

[Nicole]

I love how Cheryl insists on staying on the trail by herself. However, she has SO many people help her along the way. (Including the company, REI, which replace her shoes.) Is it ever possible to do something totally alone?

[Jo]

I agree. I don't know that we ever do anything completely alone. When I was in my 20's I went to California to study acting. I felt like I was completely on my own, but discovered an old friend and her husband there in LA, and was befriended by an elderly woman who rented me a room in her home and was helped by a kind bank clerk, and the list goes on. I hesitate to use the word "angels" because I think it is over used and yet these people were true gifts to me on my journey.

[Nicole]

I've always had the same experience. Every time I go by myself, I am in the company of helpful strangers. I can't even begin to count the number of people who've taken me in!

[Maria]

no

[Nicole]

I think it isn't possible, but she certainly had long periods of solitude. The first 8 days of her journey through the desert, she didn't see another person. Maybe focusing on solitude rather than alone-ness is more helpful.

[Maria]

Yes! that makes sense : a sort of grey answer instead of black or white: it's both with different shade or times yet ultimately even in solitude, the mere presence of spiritual might exist, but they are not necessarily engaged into our actions.. possibly restrained or even observantly nudging .. so again, it's in percentages .. 80% involved maybe 100% intervention if we slip on a rock to catch our footing .. I mean physically, but I think they are also intervening mentally.. spiritually
Sometimes, the aloneness is defined in "other human" terms and we can control that to some extent yet possibly there are times when even our wish to be alone in overrided by God's provision.. and a stranger shows up..

[Nicole]

And there are lots of times when she is greeted by other creatures -- most notably the fox and the snakes -- they are potentially threatening, but companions nevertheless.

[Jo]

I guess I am going to have to read this book. I hadn't thought about the other creatures, especially those that could be seen as threatening, as being companion. Of course, it may be that all of creation is a companion in a wilderness journey, right?

[Nicole]

Definitely. Watch this short video interview of Cheryl Strayed. She talks about how the wilderness becomes "home." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQHmy...

[Jo]

Yes, I think that clip conveys completely the idea that the (as she said) whole wide world became a place for her to be alone rather than just her office or a room in her house.