Spending a year with Eleanor

By Craig Wilson, USA Today

Noelle Hancock spent the year before her 30th birthday conquering as many of her fears as possible. Did she succeed? Yes. And no.

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  'My Year With Eleanor' is written by Noelle Hancock.

'My Year With Eleanor' is written by Noelle Hancock.

She succeeded in trying her hand at everything from jumping from a plane to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Her bigger challenge? Making the reader care.

Not to say what she did isn't admirable. It is. And not to say she isn't funny. She can be. And yes, at times you're pulling for her to become a better, more complete young woman, facing her fears head on.

But after a while this memoir reads like nothing more than a series of often-amusing experiences tied together by one theme: So what's next? She does something "scary" every day, if nothing more than running down a hallway naked.

Like many these days, Hancock got laid off from her job and was crippled by anxiety and fear. So she made a "One Year Plan" although she had no idea what that "One-Year Plan" would be. Then one day she read a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. "Do one thing every day that scares you."

Off she went. In addition to doing her conquering, she makes regular visits to her "so-how-do-you-feel-about-that?" therapist, constantly adjusts her bedtime medications and keeps her "why-don't-you-just-go-to-law-school?" parents at bay.

Hancock reads Eleanor's books, tries to follow her example, but along the way realizes even those books were "just another form of avoidance." After a few days of meditation ? conquering her fear of silence ? she walks a labyrinth and has an epiphany, realizing there are no dead ends in life ? "just opportunities to turn things around."

And that's just mid-book. After that, there is a stand-up comedy gig, a week of funeral home duty, etc. The book climaxes with the Mt. Kilimanjaro climb.

To Hancock's credit, she is ready to move on, quoting Eleanor's warnings about such self-absorption. "Some people become so interested, so fascinated by this voyage of self-discovery, that they don't come out of it again. They remain completely absorbed in their self-study."

A good lesson for us all.

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