Life Safari
By John P. Strelecky
Review by Angela Hutchinson
Spirit-Works.net
John Strelecky gave us the ever popular and thought provoking The Why Café and now offers readers his latest work, Life Safari. A tale of a young man on the journey of his life, in the magical land of Africa is the backdrop of the book; per Strelecky style, the story is wildly entertaining and inspirational all at the same time. He does not disappoint in Life Safari and I feel confident that his readers will feel the same way.
Jack follows an inner need to travel to Africa and find purpose in his life. He saves for two years so that he can fulfill this inner longing, demonstrating his strong desire to find happiness. He had no idea what he’d find, but he knew he needed to go. On his journey, he crosses paths with an older, wise sage of sorts, Ma Ma Gombe, who would travel as his guide so that he could see the real Africa and satisfy this mysterious call to the wild.
Along the way, Ma Ma Gombe shares her experiences with “young Jack” and teaches him about the “big five for life”, “…the five things you want to do, see, or experience in your lifetime before you die.” As the months pass, the two grow close and play principal roles in each other’s five for life. The Universe weaves a beautiful, perfect web in life bringing together those we need to grow, laugh, and live with, and this is a perfect example of this universal concept. Ma Ma Gombe informs Jack, “...dreams are in fact realities waiting to happen. But they don’t wait forever. At some point you have to help them make the transition. Or eventually, they just fade away.” He learns that it takes action and a generous Universe to create the life of your dreams, and he does just that in Africa. Together we enjoy the elephants, lions, rhinoceros, gazelles, wildebeest and much more. Strelecky shares the brilliance of the African landscape and the imminent danger of Jack and his companion through his incredible talent of prose. It is as if the reader leaves the comfort of his armchair and is hidden within the thickets of the Acacia tree with the characters of Life Safari.
The book deals with spiritual lessons of life and death, the connection of the planet and everything on it. It goes beyond man, animal, Africa and dives into the heart of love, passion, motivation, and living a fully awakened life. Ma ma Gombe explains, “…before we arrive, we pick certain things that we would like to learn while we are here, certain challenges we would like to try to overcome during this life…The universe is trying to inspire us to win the game, to rise above the level of the defenders.” The aspects of forgiveness and our connection to each other plays a significant part in making this book a must have. With each turn of the page, life exposes itself, and we are better for it.
Life Safari is gentle, soothing, exciting, anxiety provoking, and downright entertaining. It takes you on Jack’s journey and will make you ponder your own. It can change a life and a mission. I hope it takes you on a road less traveled to experience a life worth living. Strelecky’s style of teaching is one that will shoot him through the stratosphere; I only hope he can write from up there.
aspen light publishing