WOODSWOMAN
By Anne LaBastille
Dutton, 1976
Category: Nonfiction for Grownups
I’ve not read Elizabeth Gilbert’s runaway bestseller, EAT, PRAY, LOVE, but so many of the people around me have (even the pastor at my UU church preached about the book) that I feel I got the gist of it. And with all due respect to Ms. Gilbert and her Search for Everything, I’ve decided that if I find myself disillusioned with the world, or at a place in my life when there is time for extended self-reflection, I’m not going to travel the globe to do it. No, I’m going to find myself a lonely cabin in the woods and conduct my Search among rocks and trees that have spent their entire lives, like me, here in New England.
Knowing this, you’ll understand my fascination with the book WOODSWOMAN. After a heartbreaking divorce, author Anne LaBastille bought a parcel of land in the Adirondack wilderness, built herself a small cabin, and lived there alone for ten years. What she learns—both the practical things and the spiritual things—are utterly fascinating; reading her story opened my eyes to the reality of my cabin-in-the-woods dream. Namely, that I might not be up for it.
No matter. Sometimes living vicariously is enough for me. And because LaBastille stayed in her cabin long after the book closed, there are three additional Woodswoman books for me to read and ponder … from the safety and comfort of my decidedly un-rustic home.
How about you? If you had the time to ‘find yourself’, would you look in the woods (à la Anne LaBastille), around the globe (à la Elizabeth Gilbert), or somewhere else entirely?