Journal Three ~ Johana Langova

             Personally, I adore the book. I’ve always loved book like Holding On, which have profiles about various people. I think it makes you see the world in a clearer picture and makes you realize just how different, yet same, people are. I can’t come up with weaknesses for the book, though I thin it would be interesting to see where the people from it are today. I do love how the introduction to every person is written, so the reader knows the jist about the person, but not too much so they don’t become boring. I tend to try to connect various things I read about the person to my own life and see how they interconnect when I read actively. 

             The theme that I have noticed in the book and that connects with my life is the story of Robert Shields. Robert Shields had to write in his journal constantly, to keep his sanity and to not allow the real world and its problems to penetrate his mind. Both of my parents have obsessive behaviors, but my Mums obsessive behavior really affects the way our family works. When someone you love and live with has obsessive behaviors, it's extremely hard to engage them in your life and especially to make them realize that they don't have to live that way. My Mum both has to cook everyday and has to choose how much of it to put on our plates, and though this may not seem like that bad of a thing (she's an amazing cook), it interferes with everything. For example, I'll have school all day and I'll buy myself something to eat, but when I get home there's a three course meal waiting for me and I have to eat the entire thing or face the wrath of my Mum. The main issue though, is that she'll stay at home all day just so she can cook. She has no life outside of cooking, and doesn't allow anyone to help her get a life outside of cooking. Cooking is her crutch to deal with a world that seems unbearable to her. My Mum has quite a few obsessive behaviors, some that would make more sense to write here, but I don't feel comfortable about writing about them, because they interfere with my personal life so much and make me question everything. When some one you love has an obsession, they close themselves off and focus only on it, it's like their little 'get away' from the world, and it's extremely complicated to have a healthy relationship with a person who leans so much on a crutch that you can't take away from them, because other wise they'd fall and crumble into nothing.