I stumbled across the relatively brief book Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved and basically checked it out because "everything happens for a reason" is one of my least favorite bromides (right up there with "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger"--for a takedown of that one, see Christopher Hitchens' Mortality). The author, Kate Bowler, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer when she was 35, and she writes about that experience, how it affected her in innumerable ways, and how people around her responded (and various other things related to serious illness--but you get the picture).
The book was good, but what I liked even better is her podcast, "Everything Happens," in which she talks with people about what they have learned in the dark times in their lives. Three of the episodes that I found particularly meaningful (and I haven't quite listened to them all yet) featured conversations with Alan Alda, Lucy Kalanithi (widow of Paul, the author of When Breath Becomes Air), and pediatric oncologist Ray Barfield. Great life-affirming wisdom born out of great pain. I REALLY recommend the podcast: https://katebowler.com/everything-happens/.
No comments:
Post a Comment