Waist High in the World is another installment in the spiritual autobiography of an extraordinary writer. Nancy Mairs has had multiple sclerosis (MS) for 20 years. This debilitating disease gives the 53-year-old Mairs the same view of the world that a six year old has when standing up. Although she misses dancing, hiking, and cycling, she considers her life "unusually privileged." MS compels her to slow down and to savor things. She's grown accustomed to living in the present moment since it may be her last. And she has learned how to be a better listener which is a form of caregiving.
The chief problem people with disabilities face is being made to feel like they are outsiders. Mairs wisely states that those who seem most hostile in her presence are those most fearful of her fate.She describes her book as a "Baedeker for a country to which no one travels willingly." She is a scout exploring unmapped territory that aging baby boomers will soon be visiting — the country of physical impairments and massive complications arising from bodies in trouble. That is why all readers will want to pay close attention to what Nancy Mairs has to say about change, independence, nurturance, sexuality, and caretaking.