I had a busy fall.  I traveled up until the last possible second, then jumped right into 8 weeks of Yoga Teacher Training.  Needless to say, I hardly had any times for hobbies, barely ate any meals that didn’t come from a coffee shop or a Subway, and backburnered most leisure activities like reading for the hell of it.  And I like to read.  But sitting still with a book instead of doing yoga homework, trying to keep up on things like laundry (5-10 hours of yoga classes/week = either the need for LOTS of clothes or LOTS of laundry), or maintaining some shell of a social life just didn’t happen.

Often.

It did happen once.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Peter DeWolf.  He’s a writer (and a damn good one) who also happens to have a blog that makes ladies everywhere swoon and men everywhere take furious notes.

He wrote a novella last year, and in early September, having read more glowing reviews about it than I could count, took a sneak peek at the teaser page to see what all the fuss was about.

(I put those links in there for a reason, folks.  Go check them out.)

The jist is this (says Pete himself):

Basically my novella is a romantic comedy… about cancer.

It’s that old “Boy meets girl.  Boy gets girl.  Girl gets life-threatening disease.  Boy tries to make it better.   Boy screws up A LOT” story.

I finally ordered and read the whole thing earlier fall.  I honestly could not put it down, and stashed it in my book-bag when I first started spending evenings at Common Roots to work on various writing projects.

It’s a quick and easy read in that you will absolutely lose track of all time, senses, and basic needs like remembering to eat or sleep because it is that good.  (And novella indicates short, so that not eating or sleeping thing doesn’t become dangerous.)

I adored it.

When I finished the book I immediately emailed him and yelled at him for making me cry (just a little) in public.  Not because it was particularly sad or particularly happy (I’m not telling! You have to read it!), but because it made me feel something I’d forgotten I was capable of.

Direct quote from my email to Pete:

Dammit Peter, you #$%@%ing made me FEEL.

Warning: A Little Vulnerability Ahead

I spent the biggest chunk of this year running around the country, meeting new people, exploring new places, and really, truly spending some quality time with myself.  I became protective of my personal space (still am), and started having tiny glimpses of those moments all the Big Kids talk about when they start discovering themselves, etc., etc., blahblahblah  (you know… who I am… what I want… what my favorite flavor ice cream is – The Really Important Questions).

I was adamantly single, and the reasons behind that decision oscillated between feelings of independence, self-exploration, fear (of falling and getting hurt again), and just plain old convenience.

The relationship between the guy and gal in this book made me remember what good relationships are.  What working through things meant, what loving unconditionally meant, why it’s worth holding out for and why it’s worth taking risks for.

For the first time in about a year, I admitted to myself that FINE.  Independence has its perks, but so does love.

In fact, I continued gushing about the book to Peter went on to say this:

Your story kind of brought me face-to-face with the reality that no matter how tough I act, how indecisive I currently am about anything, how happy I am to have the time and freedom to figure those things out… I’m absolutely lying if I tell you I don’t want someone to figure it out along with me.

Sssh, don’t tell anyone.  (JK, tell EVERYONE, and hook it up please)

I won’t go into that much more, but this story in its beautifully honest simplicity, elicited feelings I’d forgotten I believed in, things I swore I was too busy or too ambitious to acknowledge, things that stared me straight in the face tonight and wouldn’t let me ignore them.

And then I got a little introspective, thinking of the relationships (romantic or not) I’ve had throughout my life that have brought me to where I am today.  I’m really, really thankful for the experiences I’ve had, painful, joyful, and tough teachers that they have been.

The point, essentially, is that you should buy and read this book*.  You can read the whole thing online or buy a paperback copy (I did, I’m old-fashioned like that).

This post is clearly a tribute to Peter in that I took something awesome that he did and made it all about me.

“Because we’re adorable like that.”

Happy Birthday, Peter

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*Disclaimer: This is an affiliate link for Amazon.com. The teeny amount of money I earn through this revenue-sharing partnership goes towards various charities and non-profits that I participate in and support, and sometimes helps to further the realization of some personal life goals.

** This post is also part of a little birthday party shindig thing for Pete. To see the other little well-wishes for our favorite Nova Scotian, click here.

Tagged as: birthday, book review, Peter DeWolf