week 9

 For the reading assignment, I decided to read "The Salt Path," and I did not know anything about it previously. I'm glad I did, however, because I found the story put a lot of my struggles in comparison to what Raynor Winn had to overcome. The story follows how she and her husband lost their home, how her husband had to battle a terminal illness, and how they grew closer even after being with each other for so many years. 

To see the way Winn had to battle losing practically everything material in her life, and came out better than she went in. To be in a situation like that and deciding that the best course of action was, quite literally, to keep moving was incredibly eye-opening. That is normally the point in someone's life where they give up, as they are at rock bottom. By making the decision to go on this journey of hundreds of miles on foot, they were able to change their lives, and I find this truly inspiring. It was also interesting to find that through the walk, Winn's husband's terminal illness actually improved, something that was completely unexpected. They both knew that his time may end at any moment, as in the beginning of the book, it looked like his condition was getting worse. 

Through reading this, I consistently thought about how even a 10-mile hike seems daunting, and they hiked for 630 miles. I loved how the emphasis on nature as a healer was made clear through the repetition of them either struggling from nature and making them stronger, or how being a part of nature can ground you and connect you to your environment. 

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