Book Report- Willow by Julia Hoban

In this book Willow accidentally kills her parents in a car accident and becomes a cutter to rid herself of emotions. We all have emotions. How we deal with them is our choice but forcing ourselves to feel something just makes it worse. From personal experience I can relate to Willow because Willow did not like to talk about things. She kept to herself a lot. Willow knew what she could and couldn't share with other poeple. I often keep to myself as well. I don't like to talk about what's wrong and I frustrate my friends when they ask what's bothering me and I tell them nothing. It is easier to hide things because it hurts less. Talking about things can be like reopening a wound sometimes. However, what I have learned is that some wounds must be reopened in order to heal the right way. Some wounds never heal right and some wounds never heal at all. But I also learned that embedded in every wound is a lesson, a story that we carry with us as a reminder. Poison sang "Every rose has it's thorn". In that same sense, every person has their own wound and their own scar. Some are worse than others. Some people have more than others. Yet I firmly believe that God will not give me anything I cannot handle. When I realized running from my emotions wasn’t going to work, I found someone I can tell anything to. Every time I need to talk she is there and she understands that sometimes I don't want to talk. She doesn't force me to feel what I am really feeling and that is good because emotions are something we need to discover on our own. They are also something that we cannot always deal with on our own. Yes, sometimes it hurts unimaginably bad to rip the scab off but we have to let the wound finish bleeding for it to heal properly. When it finally does heal though, you feel so much better. Willow discovered this in the novel and I have discovered this in life. I believe everyone must come to understand this before they are ever fully healed from the past and present.