When 29 Gifts landed on my desk for review I was not the most excited person. I am not much of an MBS (Mind, Body, Spirit) reader but I thought to myself I should at least give it a chance.
It is a story about Cami Walker (author) who, at 33, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis – just one month after her wedding day. A devastating blow, right? And it was… her life as she knew it changed forever. She had to quit her job, move cities and deal with various hardships the disease inflicted upon her. But this isn’t a story about her difficulties… yes, it tells you about these things but it essentially is a story about an uncommon prescription from a friend, an African medicine woman named Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.
I picked up the book while waiting for a yoga classes a couple of weeks ago and read 5 chapters in quick succession, admittedly the chapters are short but the writing is excellent – it is written without pity and is full of hope. I found it so easy to read and I wanted to know more about Cami and her life, I really wanted her to find something that would help her. I was intrigued by this notion of giving 29 gifts in 29 days and where it would lead. And with each passing chapter I found myself believing… believing that something like this could help someone.
At the end of the book there are short essays from people who have done the challenge and while some of them were interesting I found myself skipping over them to get to the letter written by Mbali Creazzo (the woman who suggested the challenge to Cami). She is an interesting woman and I think this comes across in the book and in the letter but if you want to know a little more about her click here as I was lucky enough to interview her last week.
Ultimately, I think I can suck it up enough to say that I was wrong to judge the book before reading it … it is uplifting, accessible and completely absorbing! I am even thinking of doing the challenge myself… and I think everyone should at least read the book to find out what it is all about.
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