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Are you taking a leave of absence? She whispered her question as if I were planning a prison escape.
No. What Iris had in mind did involve absence, but truly, it was more about arriving back at presence. In Hiking Naked, Iris Graville takes us along on her journey of stripping life down to what is most essential. This is a book about reclaiming your joys.
If ever there was a time to plan a prison escape, surely it would be now. Just as Iris felt imprisoned by the burnout of years in the public health field, who among us is not wishing for an escape from the weariness of daily crisis... from the pandemic stress in which we are engulfed?
For me, being immersed in the author's sojourn to a place far removed from constant bombardment was not only a much-needed respite, but also a knowing, as Graville put it, of "the riches of attending to what's truly important."
Anyone who has ever fantasized about moving to a remote haven far from the madding crowd will relish this account of Graville's time spent in Stehekin (a Native word meaning a way through), Washington. As Iris ferries us via her writing to this uplake North Cascades paradise, we discover ourselves in a place any lover of Northern Exposure would find intriguing and refreshing.
Imagine living without TV, phones, freeways, or frenzy. Think what it would be like to mail-order your groceries (and have a stranger named Alice select your food items for you).
Envision a time of reading, writing, hiking, and just being. Wrap your mind around days filled with art, bread-baking, letter-writing, laundry-hanging, and journaling about the desires of your heart.
In the process of becoming "Stehekinized," Graville found her own way through the tumult of both internal and external fires and floods. As she sought balance, and let Stehekin live within her, Iris found the path to what was next.
I highly recommend this book to anyone searching for clarity, for renewal, for a clear sense of calling, for a return to the essence of life. Here's to finding your own Stehekin. May the way through be a journey to joy.
