Review of Diana, Herself: An Allegory of Awakening

Martha Beck has always been one of my favorite writers. Usually a non-fiction writer of self-help and life coaching books (and a regular contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine), this time she has written a fictional novel–Diana, Herself, An Allegory of Awakening that will very likely delight and transform anyone who decides to pick it up and read it.

 

As a lifelong animal lover, I found Beck’s vision of awakening utterly delightful, immersed as it is in woodland creatures. I, too, have been transfixed while quietly sitting in nature and watching its inhabitants unabashedly go on with their lives.  Once or twice I’ve even fallen asleep in a chair, only to wake up and find a squirrel sitting upright inches away from my toes, nibbling away at something it has in its tiny paws. I have never considered wild animals–large or small–hostile, although I certainly do respect the large and poisonous among them sufficiently to allot sufficient space between us. (Physical space, that is; mentally and emotionally, I still cherish their existence).

 

In a single sound bite, Diana is about discovering how to overcome a lifetime of “taming” (shaming, training, and defaming) so that our essential magnificence can illuminate our world.

 

The protagonist, Diana, was abandoned in a dumpster at birth and subsequently raised in a series of unsettling foster homes only to be told that she is unfit to be loved, cared for, nurtured and respected. She has been categorized variously as insane, lazy, stupid, dangerous and irredeemable by these folks, the foster care system, and several teachers.

 

Of course, she has believed all of it. She has even incorporated the continual shaming into her own self-talk. No one has to tell her anymore that she’s crazy or unfit; she tells herself the same thing at least several times an hour.

 

Despite having raised a decent, loving son and holding down responsible jobs, she continues to berate herself, always noticing where she falls short instead of where she shines.  The bosses and lovers she serves treat her the way she assumes she deserves to be treated: as someone who’s fit to have around only for as long as she serves their purposes and doesn’t ask for much in return. If only they will condescend to tolerating her continued existence, she will take mere crumbs in exchange… and thank them for it.

 

Whenever the overlords/abusers in her life threaten her or someone she loves (animal or human), she goes into what she calls a “fugue” and loses track of time, of what she does to cause the overlords/abusers to back off and allow her to escape or to come to the rescue of another.  She considers these “blackout periods” a type of insanity.  What they are, we come to find out, are moments of intense clarity, laser-like focus, and an accompanying activity that serves to insure her continued survival.

 

When she falls in love with an enigmatic, world-renowned survival guru named Roy Richards, all seems hunky dory for a while until she disappoints him in some way (no spoilers, here). He immediately transforms into still another of the tyrannical, narcissistic, misogynist monsters she has encountered before in other guises, blaming her for his misfortunes and calling her callous, slut-shaming names.

 

During an outdoor adventure, the two get separated in the wilderness for a period of months. During this time, Diana finds herself, discovers her magnificence and the magnificence of the animals and environment of which she has become a part, and she begins to rediscover how to undo the wounding that has been inflicted on her since she was a little girl.

 

During their time apart, Diana discovers joy and beauty, universal love and oneness with the woodland creatures she meets and builds relationships with. (She discovers the animals can talk to her in English.)

 

During the same time in the same environment, Roy discovers nothing at all lovable or trustworthy about his (similar) surroundings. No animals talk to him, or help him. All he encounters are fearsome beasts and imminent dangers.

 

When they finally find each other again, Roy instantly proclaims Diana’s experiences “fantasies” and “delusions” and considers his experiences the only ones worth believing. Her woodland friends are his mortal enemies. As he descends further into madness, Diana ascends further into magnificence.

 

This is a perfect book for anyone whose lives and experiences have been “mansplained” away as “nutty”, “insane”, or “unbelievable” by other wounded people who think of people in terms of “me” and “them” instead of as “we universally” (animal, human and planet).

 

I plan to read Diana once a month until it has become a part of my own path. Indeed, it has always been a part of my path–but until Martha Beck brought it into focus in this way, I never saw it as brilliantly exposed and spotlighted before.

 

The book ends with a primer on the six things Diana needed to learn in order to lay claim to the divine miracle she has always been. Those who decide to practice them are likely reach the same destination: becoming fully alive and fearless to telegraph love to the rest of creation… without ego, without expectation, without fear of backlash or being proclaimed “crazy”.

 

Even better: Those who read this book and follow the six steps will help tip the scales and protect the planet from the fearful and ferocious in this world… the “deciders in chief” who are laying waste to the planet and to any possibility of fearless, all-consuming love.