Eat Pray Love By Elizabeth Gilbert

I finished Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert on May 10, 2011. I found it at the house where I babysit. I read it while I was there at work, when I had some free time. It was a great read! It came at a most needed time in my life. I was gonna watch the movie and read the book later, when I had my hands on a copy. With were we are financially , I can't go and buy it yet. So it was a blessing that I was able to read it when I did.

The basic premise of this story is about Elizabeth Gilbert's path to happiness. It tells her story of a devastating divorce and her journey of getting to know God and herself by going to Italy, India, and Bali, spending 3-4 months in each country. I find that so inspiring and noble. She's a writer by profession and the way she writes this book is of particular interest to me. She writes in first person and it's got the feel of reading her personal journal. Knowing what she was thinking at a particular moment. She is so funny and witty. The characters in here are so real (probably because they are) and enjoyable.

She made me feel like I was with her traveling but getting a VIP pass into her thoughts and feelings. I thought the book would be kind of boring but it was anything but that. It does have some language in it and the "F" word a few times, but really inspirational and enlightening. She is honest and open about her experiences and her life.

She had all these wants and thoughts when so much horribleness was happening... why can't I do that especially when I have so much greatness in my life. I don't have to be recently divorced or childless to have these wants and pursue them. Granted I might have to work around them but it is possible.

At first I didn't think I would finish it that day because I didn't want to neglect the kids. I was able to finish it and that made me happy. I wanted to rush home and watch the movie. We ate dinner and I started watching it with Lilly on my laptop but I was getting frustrated with her because she kept trying to push the buttons. I asked Sam to take Lilly. (He was glad I asked him). To be honest, (and it's really no surprise) I didn't like the movie as much as I liked the book. In the book I had so much more access to what Gilbert was thinking and feeling. The movie had stuff in there that wasn't in the book. Now with reading about scriptwriting recently, I have more of a sense as to why they changed things for the movie but that doesn't mean they should have done it. It so much great content in it I don't know why they felt like they had to change or exaggerate anything.

The movie adaptation was pretty on the spot, though, with regard to dialogue. Almost too much so. It's probably because I just got done reading the book. Plus it just looked different in my imagination. I also could have missed some things. I probably sound condescending and flip floppy.

Reading the book gave me a look at my life. I believe, for the first time in a long time, I saw my potential potential (I mean that as in noun and adjective, like potentially seeing my potential). My dreams have just seemed out of reach lately. I need to be patient and do my best to make of the situation. I can find happiness and balance in my life. Looking at this life with an eternal perspective. It's not easily achieved but when that is considered, it makes trials a little bit more bearable.

Gilbert mentions going to Italy "pinched and thin" and through her experiences she's "gained weight." I look at that aspect, rather I apply it to my own life but flipped. I keep the weight and have kept the weight. I have a hard time letting things go. I have come into recent experiences that have made me keep and not let go. That's not healthy.

There is a quote in the book that really made me think. "...Overall satisfying life of motherhood, and marriage and career. " She is referencing her friend who is married, just had a baby and is an artist. I realized that I have 2/3 of these things. I'm missing a career. So I feel incomplete. Yes, I understand that both motherhood and marriage could be a career and I love both. I just want to feel success.

I did stray off my classic literature list when reading this book but it was worth it (like it's a big deal). It is a New York Times Bestseller and very popular. Gilbert's book has inspired me to be at peace with myself, to pray to God and to find pleasure even if it is small. This is definitely a keeper. When you have you in order, everything else will be in order.

Here are a few quotes that I really enjoyed from the book:

"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live on imitation of somebody else's life with perfection." -The Bhagavad Gita

"You are given life; it is your duty ( and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight."

"You should never give yourself a chance to fall apart because, when you do, it becomes a tendency and it happens over and over again. You must practice staying strong, instead." -Elizabeth's Guru

"I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore..."

"Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth."