Love Warrior
Monday, April 30, 2018
I discovered Love Warrior almost a year after it first published. I was skeptical at first. I work at a literary agency where we represent Glennon. One of my best friends outside of work recommended the book to me. She is deep and soulful, and I'm never disappointed with her recommendations, but for some reason I felt weary. These days, so many people are preaching their own remedies to the ailments of life - claiming that they are spiritual, when in fact, they sugarcoat over their own vulnerability and lean toward spiritual materialism over raw spirituality. There was so much hype about this book in the press that it made me suspicious - skeptical that the uproar was disingenuous, or worse that the book itself was. But, this book is transformative. It is honest and raw, and it reaches out a hand to the reader as if to say, "it's okay, you are okay, I am here."
Just how Glennon sat in the stillness with her own pain, through her book, she sits with me in mine. At one point in the book, Glennon goes alone to a hotel on the ocean: "The sound of the water speaks not to my spinning mind or yearning heart, but to my still strong soul. The water is speaking in a language I knew before the world taught me its language." I agree entirely. So often we try to sew up our lives, check off boxes, get "organized," in such a way that alienates our own humanity and proposes that we are instead robots. Well, I am not a robot and I also refuse to be a type-a person...if that is even actually a thing.
Thank you, Glennon, for tearing off your mask and being strong. Thank you for being real in a world where so many people are distracted by layers of illusion.