"Only by relying on yourself can the odds be greater." - "When You Fly Like a Bird to Your Mountain"
I especially like a quote from the poet Gu Cheng: "The night gave me eyes, but I used it to find the light." "Man knows nothing about fate, but the direction of fate can be in his own hands. Fate is like the night, it is impossible to think through, but once you seek the eyes of light, the fate is in your own hands.
We can't choose where we are, but we can choose to work hard. Tara Westover, author of the best-selling book "When You Fly Like a Bird to Your Mountain," is the "miracle girl" who dares to fight against fate.
She was "imprisoned" in the junkyard by her father for 17 years, and in this quarter of her life (at the age of 80), her life was a blank, and there was nothing superfluous to fill her life except to be beaten and starved. At the age of 17, she decided to start the Jedi Counterattack and "opened up" all the way, becoming a million best-selling author and winning the "2019 Influential Person of the Year" in the United States, from knowing nothing to honoring her, she spent 33 years.
Born in the mountains of Idaho in 1986, Tara Westover did not have a birth certificate because she was born at home, and when she got a replacement birth certificate at the age of 15, the whole family forgot what month she was born, what day, and there were four other siblings like her who did not have a birth certificate. His father, a mormon, believed that going to the hospital was harmful to the body and that birth certificates would only make them subject to government control.
He also never allowed anyone in the family to have his own voice, and in his view the school was a conspiracy of the government to steer children away from God and absolutely could not go.
While children her peers played carefreely, Tara Westford had to work with her brothers in the scrap yard or follow her mother to make tinctures and essential oils. Tara Westerver was "valued" in the family, and her father repeatedly pushed her into the roaring rolled steel scissors that almost bit off people's heads; her brother Sean repeatedly pushed her head into the toilet and beat her violently, claiming to get rid of the monster for the family.
And her mother, who pinned her hopes on, also turned a blind eye to her encounter and swallowed her anger.
The beating of the father, the insult of the brother regardless of the occasion, regardless of the place.
In 17 years, more than 6,000 days and nights, Tara Westover was "imprisoned" by her father.
Taylor is Tara's third older brother, and unlike his murderous father, Shaun, who has violent tendencies, Taylor is incompatible with his family, he likes to be quiet, loves to read, and likes to classify, mark, and organize. At the age of fifteen, he ran away from home to study. Once, Tara is being beaten up by her brother Sean when Taylor suddenly appears. He pushes Sean away and gives Tara a car key, allowing Tara to escape the house.
"It's time to leave, Tara, the longer you stay, the less likely you are to leave."
"This is the worst place for you, go where I went, go to college."
Taylor was like an elder who taught, and his words planted a seed in Tara's heart: the decision to enter college.
When his father learned of this, he still taught Tara the same set of "reading is the government to guide children away from God's conspiracy", and also changed the law to let Tara do the most dangerous work as a punishment. She had to get up early to squeeze in time to study, or hide in her aunt's house to study. Secretly self-taught during breaks in the work for his father, day and night preparing for the university entrance exam.
After months of hard work, she harvested a miracle: a college admission letter. Don't push yourself, you never know how capable you are!
Tara finally escaped from the place where she had been "imprisoned" for 17 years, and when she walked into the campus, she truly felt empathy with her brother Taylor, everything was strange, everything was full of unknown and curiosity.
The biggest difficulties survived, she was not afraid of the isolation, exclusion, and strange eyes of her classmates, even if she was called "garbage girl", she turned a blind eye. The road out of ignorance is not easy, and with perseverance and conviction, Tara not only went from a failing student to a full-fledged student, but also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2008. He was subsequently awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and received a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge in 2009. In 2010, he received a scholarship to visit Harvard University. He received his PhD in History from the University of Cambridge in 2014.
In 2018, he published his debut book, "You Fly Like a Bird to Your Mountain." From ignorance to honor, she spent 33 years.
"When You Fly Like a Bird to Your Mountain" topped the New York Times best-seller list for more than 80 consecutive weeks, selling more than one million copies in the United States and more than 37 translations worldwide. Bill Gates recommended the book as the top 1 of the book list of the year, and he even specifically invited Tara for an interview. He confessed: "My self-learning ability is not worth mentioning in front of her. ”
"When You Fly Like a Bird to Your Mountain" was originally called "educated", which means "educated". The phrase you flee as a bird to your mountain comes from the Bible, and there are two interpretations, one is "fleeing" and the other is "finding a new faith."
Tara's seventeen-year-old life, as a descendant of a Mormon family, the Bible is the most important text in her life, and her choice of such a name may be a real reconciliation with her past self.
Tara's study is not so much a quest for knowledge as it is a self-rescue. In this self-rescue in the name of education, Tara rewrites her fate, and her counterattack is not only her personal, but also thousands of people who are in the same situation as her.
As Tara says in "You Fly Like a Bird to Your Mountain," "Find out where your abilities lie, and then decide who you are." "We have been confused and desperate, but as long as we grit our teeth and insist, everything will pass, and you at that time will be the transformed you."
Tara once thought that her hometown of Buck Peak was the mountain in her heart, but she later discovered that the mountain was actually a cage. She decided to go alone to find the real mountain in her heart. As she said: The road is long, but she is convinced that she will arrive.
As it is said in the movie "Farewell to the Overlord": "Man, you have to become a child by yourself." Readers who read this article, in the days to come:
In any case, you should be like a bird, flying to your mountain.
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When you fly like a bird to your mountain Chinese hardcover edition of Bill Gates Annual Recommended Women Warm Heartwarming Novel ¥36 Purchase