Patricia Ohanian-Michael Graves article on Spiritual Journey and Wild 4/26/2020

Michael Graves article on what makes a spiritual journey states that, the Michael Graves article on the Spiritual Journey states that there are seven things intertwined into a spiritual journey narrative.  First, a young woman looking for direction.    Second, a wise old man.  Third, the idea of wondering.  Fourth, tests of the spiritual journey.  Fifth, the idea of object.   

I believe that the movie Wild can be characterized as a spiritual journey under Michael Graves definition.  Wild is about Cheryl Strayed, who was completely lost in life and decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in order to be "found".  

Cheryl is the young woman looking for direction.  There are many "wide old man" characters.  Not just men, but wise old people.   Cheryl is constantly wondering why she is there, what she is doing, what she is looking for.  Cheryl is tested many times, questioning if she should quit, missing her old life, thinking she is not good enough and does not deserve to be happy.  Finally the idea of the object. There are many object, but most commonly the object of the feather that her friend gave her during her hike on the trail.  

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