Photograph of Book Courtesy of wee.amazon.com
Find out who you are, and then, be that person. That is something that the majority of us are told when we are in childhood and/or early adulthood. What they do not tell you is that sometimes, who you find and currently are is not really who you are supposed to be. Elizabeth Gilbert discovered this painful yet enlightening fact when she realized that she no longer wanted to be married and how she was currently living was completely wrong for her.
In her memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, Ms. Gilbert realistically and compassionately describes her spiritual journey post-divorce while living in the cultures of Italy, India, and Indonesia. We travel with her as she makes new friends and tastes heavenly, delicious food in Italy, finds lasting, spiritual enlightenment from studying at an Ashram in India, and comes full circle and discovers lasting friendship and companionship in Indonesia. It is truly a ride of a lifetime for not only Ms. Gilbert but for anyone who decides to pick up this book and journey with her. Ms. Gilbert shares the intimate details of her journey and also the insights that she gathered not only from her own deep thoughts but also from the advice and counsel that she received from the friends and comrades with whom she shared many of these experiences. To quote a friend of mine: "This book is deep, man." That is a good thing.
Eat, Pray, Love reminds us that even if we believe we have found ourselves and who we are supposed to be, if things just do not feel right; they are probably not right. We need to have the courage and the guts to turn and face this knowledge and our feelings head on in order to find out what is truly right for us. Unfortunately, it is normally not easy to do this in one way or another. However, it is far better to admit the truth instead of continuing to live a lie. Ms. Gilbert had the courage to find the truth and then admit what she wanted and also did not want in her life. We need to find a way to do the same.
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