No Cure For Being Human

Author - Kate Bowler

All of us humans dream and work towards a bright future wherein we are happy and content. We are ever hopeful to have the perfect life that we want. But then life happens and there is not much we can do about it. A life full of promises and filled with unlimited choices is no more as beautiful as we hoped it would be. Author Kate Bowler asks a perennial question on how to move ahead in life that we did not choose. What happens when a seemingly perfect life, present and future, pauses to force us into a future that we never wanted?

The author faced these questions when she was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer at the young age of 35. The book chronicles her journey through this difficult period of her life. It is an emotional journey of grief, hope, and courage. One thing that the author makes amply clear is that cliches don’t work in such a situation. Keeping a positive attitude, hoping for the best or living in present does not help. Such exhaustive positivity may lead to resentment. We all have to die once but when you are in such a situation you die a thousand times in a single life. The author makes an interesting observation, which is relevant to all of us, that facing the past is part of facing the future. Till the time we have not made peace with our past, we are not ready for the future. It is the choices that we make or choose not to make that lay the path for our future. Often the experience that we didn’t pick is the ones that define us.

It connects with the reader because of the honesty with which it is written. It has a good dose of humour as well as occasional anger. It is sensitive and is a heartfelt memoir of sickness, family, and survival. The book leaves the reader with a question that we must give a hard thought to as a possible answer may help us find our purpose in life and that question is, “How do we create meaning in our lives as we race against time?” Hope you find your answer.

BookVibe: 3/5