Joy for Beginners, Kate
Our last chapter brings us back to Kate, who is facing her whitewater rafting challenge with her daughter Robin by her side. As with the other women portrayed in this book, Kate’s challenge is symbolic of her doubts and fears in life; her ability to find strength in carrying out the challenge allows her to release tightly held emotions and frees her to be more of herself.
Now that we have reached the end of our story, I am wondering what is your favorite take away from the book? Which character were you able to most relate to? Has the book inspired you to take on any challenges?
Congratulations to one of Glen Ivy’s favorite authors Erica Bauermeister – Joy for Beginners was chosen as one of the top ten books in women’s fiction for 2011 by Library Journal. As we blogged through Joy we each found pieces of ourselves and our lives reflected in the characters that we were reading about. For me, this book was not only a good read but an impetus for reflecting on life’s journey and the experiences and people we encounter on the path. Thank you, Erica, for blogging with us. We eagerly await your next book and hope that you’ll continue to visit our book club.
Our Winter Book Club selection will be announced in late December and we’ll begin blogging in January. Until then, happy reading!
Thank you all for reading — and here’s hoping that one of your New Year’s resolutions will be to do something new or difficult or scary in 2013!
It’s interesting how Kate ends up taking care of her friends when they were for so long taking care of her. By listening intently to them, she was able to give them challenges that allowed each of them to venture out of their comfort zone. In doing so each was confronted with tasks that taught them to find the excitement in living- to feel the fear and do it anyway.
I found pieces of each of the ladies in my own life but not nearly as much as I did with Sara. It was safe to stay in Sara’s comfort zone consumed by the demands of her family. When she allowed herself to challenge herself past those boundaries, Sara was able to rediscover herself and find lost pieces of her soul. It’s powerful to know that the things we think we cannot accomplish are there for us to succeed and conquer when we just allow ourselves to try.