This is personal essay at its strongest and most powerful. I love how Cheryl Strayed lays herself bare, so brave to lean into the tensions within all of us – the difficult self-delusory spaces when we are in a state of crisis. She is deep in grief but only really grasps it as the essay progresses; but it manifests itself in her infidelity and hurting others.
First published in the journal The Sun, 2002, and available to read online here
A Personal Anthology 