Naomi and Will: Reading back to back... Two very different journeys

 I know... This is not how I normally do my book blog posts.  But I am enjoying a journey of reading I want to share that goes beyond just the books.  I will do a blog post for each book when I am finished reading them.  This is about the journey. 

Since I started both books... "Will" and "River of Time"  I have been reading them together.  I read a chapter of "Will" then a chapter of "River of Time"  Strangely enough, I am bringing Will Smith and Naomi Judd together in a way that is helping me navigate their stories.  It's like each of them is helping me understand the other.  Both are somehow symbiotic through the process.  

I don't know if I could handle each story on their own.  Naomi's story is painful, not just because of the story, but because of her recent death.  Her book "River of Time" is about her journey through mental illness... a journey that recently ended.  I don't know if I have it in me to immerse myself totally in the book, so I am thankful that I can read a chapter and then go back to "Will". 

Will's story is captivating, but strange.  I feel more akin to Naomi's journey, and more of a stranger to Will's story.  I can only take a chapter of Will's story and then I need to find my way back to Naomi.  She offers me more of a familiar ground of comfort and I don't feel so alienated from the protagonist.  

So back and forth I go... finding joy and new insight in Will's journey and embracing empathy and sorrow in Naomi's story.  Together, they invite me into their lives.  

They seem so different: different worlds, different people,  different celebrity careers.  Will is still alive, Naomi is dead.  Will still exudes hope and purpose, Naomi surrendered to her pain.  They do have one thing in common.  Both are multiple Grammy award winners.  Maybe they did cross paths along their journey.  

I am half way through each book.  Will has just procured the roll of Will in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and Naomi is in the hospital fighting for her health and sanity.  I will end this post with a quote from each book.  In just these few words, one can understand these are stories that go beyond a country music legend and an Academy Award winning actor.  These are the stories of two human beings just trying to navigate their world the best they can. 

"I was done praying. Why would a loving God let me sink so low now? Why would he let the disease in my brain become so unpredictable and my thoughts so dark? I felt that God was a phony and had abandoned me to this hideous mental illness, and I was mad as hell at him. My faith withered away. I went into spiritual exile."  Naomi

"Hope sustains life. Hope is the elixir of survival during our darkest times. The ability to envision and imagine a brighter day gives meaning to our suffering and renders it bearable. When we lose hope, we lose our central source of strength and resilience." Will