Walk on the Beach:Tales of Wisdom From an Unconventional Woman
By Joan Anderson
Broadway Books, 2004

221 pages, $10.36 on Amazon.com (see link below)


Reviewed by LizOP
MSWorld Book Reviewer


A chance meeting on a Cape Cod beach led to unexpected changes in Joan Anderson's life. As the author retreats from her marriage for one year in hopes of enriching her soul enough to enrich her life and marriage, she meets another Joan - Joan Erikson.

This 90-something woman entreats Anderson to "Come out of her mind and into her body," by encouraging her to "overdose on the senses, dance beyond the breakers, and always be willing to embrace challenges."

Joan Erikson was the wife of Erik Erikson, renowned psychologist and author who studied child psychology with Anna Freud and was a follower of Sigmund Freud.

Erik Erikson believed the most important force driving human behavior and the development of personality was social interaction while Freud believed it was biological instincts of life and aggression.

Joan and Erik collaborated for years on the eight stages of life. After meeting Anderson, and later the death of her husband, Erikson writes a final stage and is published at age 94. No small task.

The entire book is a flashback as the author sits with Joan Erikson in the final hours of Erikson's life.

One of my favorite conversations is where Erikson is talking about what has inspired her during her life: "Always remember that strength comes from adversity…Everyone wants to walk under a rainbow, but it's the negative pulls that force us to reach a little further, do a bit more, make the extra effort. That's why the toddler, as he seeks conflict and tests the limits, is developing character."

Joan Erikson was a "character" and one I wish I had met. Her comments above made me think back on my life and the adversity, if you will, which shaped me into the person I am today. How many times have we said, "If this or that had not happened, I wonder what or where I would be today? If MS had not happened to each one of us, or a loved one, would we be the same today?" I don't think so.

If life had been easy, a walk in the park, I believe we would be moving so fast we would miss the flowers in the park and I would not have met all you wonderful people who are a part of this MS World.

This book is a "chick book" (i.e., chick flick) and will give you pause to think, shed a tear, laugh, or realize we can celebrate life each day. Anderson writes about Erikson's comment about living the dash - interesting concept. Not the 100-yard dash, but the dash between our birth date and date of death. "Here lies (name) 1951 - xxxx"

So what are you doing with the "-" in your life? I hope it is picking up this book and reading it.

I believe you will be inspired to celebrate the life you have been given - even if that means accepting all the difficulties MS can bring. Then we can live our dash with a zeal unknown before.



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