Review: Resilience - Navigating Life, Loss, and the Road to Success

Resilience: Navigating Life, Loss, and the Road to Success by Lisa Lisson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was not what I expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I am drawn to stories of people recovering from tragedies, but a mom with kids dealing with the 'loss' of her husband isn't one that I relate to. I suppose it was the parallel story of Lisa's role as a senior executive in Canada that intrigued me. The third aspect of the book ~ Lisa's descriptions of her leadership style and business philosophy ~ was unexpected and, at times, seemed out of place. Yet it makes sense, if she is writing a book about her journey, that they would be included. Looking back at the title, it does seem to fit. I suppose the chosen audio clip for the preview was so laser focused on the tragedy of her husband's heart attack, that I wasn't expecting the rest. But... still a good read. I wasn't thrilled with the narration; at times the narrator spoke so fast I actually checked to make sure I hadn't inadvertently selected 2x speed.

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A Berghain tragedy

Creative Commons image sakena on Flickr

Today, when surfing for city travel information, I stumbed across a reference to Berghain, Berlin's famed but unpublicized techno nightclub.

Where have I been living, under a rock? I spent 5 weeks in Berlin, and thought I had researched all the city had to offer, including off-the-beaten-track places and activities. But this place never hit my radar. Upon reflection, it's not really surprising. Not into the drug scene or clubbing, I am more plain vanilla than I like to admit to myself.

I was fascinated, half wishing I'd known about it, so I could have gone, but quickly tossing that aside with knowledge that I'd probably not make it in. I may be able to act bored and non-chalant, but at my core I am naive and wear deception on my face. I can't tell a lie, pull off a prank, or hide a secret - my face gives me away. Not that it bothers me ~ integrity runs deep in my veins, and I have no desire to lie or deceive anyways. So it's not a problem, per se. But I wouldn't have made it across the threshold.

But still, I was curious, and started to write a blog post (not this one). As I was collecting stories and links to augment my post, I came across one story from last month that stopped me dead in my tracks.

It was a story about an overdose death at the club. Sadly, not a rare thing these days, but the subheading caught my eye:

Deafening Silence After Overdose at Berghain - During an around-the-world trip last summer, a couple from California visited Berlin's legendary Berghain techno club. A few hours later, one of them was dead. Even today, no one seems willing to accept responsibility for the tragedy.

I immediately thought of all the travel bloggers trekking the world these days, especially those younger and more carefree than me, chasing excitement and experiences that I can't even imagine. Sometimes I worry about them, so this story just brought that all into focus for me.

The story is on Spiegel, which I appreciate for its thorough coverage of stories, its willingness to go down rabbit holes, to question the unexplained, and to expose loose ends that can't be neatly tied up.

Read it, I suggest.

For me, I think this is going to be on my mind for awhile...

RIP Jennifer.