Eat Pray Love By Elizabeth Gilbert

I didn't want to review this book.  This book has been around for a while and now with the movie being released I felt like it was a contrived effort on my part to discuss a book that everyone has either read, or now, has seen played out on the big screen compliments of Julia Roberts.   I wasn't going to write about this book... but after I was done reading, I found it impossible not to write about it.

Eat Pray Love simply put, is about one woman who decided to fly around the world in an attempt to get over a divorce, a lover, and in the meantime, find God. Even though the author and I come from two completely different worlds, I found myself relating to her more than I anticipated. She struggled with the idea of conforming into what our society has decided to be "normal," (grow up, get married, have kids, etc). Although this type of life is rewarding for others, she couldn't help but hear an inner voice that constantly reminded her that this type of "normal" life wasn't meant for her.  Just recently having made this same realization, I too find myself on my own personal path of self discovery.  And even though I didn't travel across the world to find out who it is I am, this book certainly taught me a few lessons about life. Mainly that when all else fails, and you don't know where to go or what to do or who you are... Eat, Pray, and Love.

EAT
Now when I say eat, I am not talking about sitting down and stuffing your face with ding dongs.  No. That definitely won't do you any good except pack on the pounds and drive you right into the depths of despair, and trust me, there are no answers down there.  What I'm talking about is something far more profound than food.  It is about pleasure, living in the moment, and not taking a second of it for granted.

I went to Italy about seven years ago. Although my time spent there was in a social capacity rather than a spiritual awakening, it was hard not to notice that the Italian sure knew a thing or two about life's little pleasures, which became apparent of course, around a meal.  My first night in Rome my friends and I went to a little hole in the wall restaurant for dinner. The meal consisted of six courses, all small sized portions but hugely satisfying.  They had the freshest mozzarella drizzled with olive oil, the reddest and juiciest tomatoes I had ever seen, red wine that I swear came straight from the vine, and a tortelloni ricotta that tasted like the dough had literally just been rolled out.  The food was so good it was like taking a step towards euphoria with each and every bite.  Midway through the dinner patrons from adjacent tables had pulled their chairs over to join us for what seemed to be a celebration of... nothing.  What began as four friends sitting down to dinner turned into a soirée of strangers.  I savored everything about that night.  The food, the wine, the people.  It really was a pure state of contentment where I wasn't thinking of anything from my past and certainly not worrying about anything in the future.  What we came to find out from our new friends at that hole in the wall restaurant, was that this was just another typical night for them;  a celebration of nothing.  We as Americans get so wrapped up in work, money, and stress, we don't have time to enjoy the things that make us happy.   Furthermore, we don't give ourselves enough time in our day to even find out what it is that would make us happy, right down to a good meal. I have been guilty of this the most these last few years. My idea of fine dining was a lean cuisine and a diet coke mostly because by the time I had gotten home from work I was so tired the last thing I wanted to do was cook.  This translated into many other parts of my life.  Not only was I depriving myself of what made me happy, but when I would ask myself what that might be, I always came up with the same answer, "I don't know."  This book was a reminder that sometimes, the world does get tough, and life gets in the way, but at the very least you must treat yourself to a moment, a meal, that gives you so much contentment, it takes your mind off of everything else and allows you to "smile with your heart."

PRAY
God. Religion. Prayer. These words evoke the same emotion within me.  Confusion.  I have never been a religious person, and I have spent more time perplexed as to how people can govern their lives based on the beliefs of someone else.  Now don't misunderstand me, even though I may not understand it, I always respect it. And my confusion is compounded further when I find myself in my lowliest hours doing the very same thing that I question others for. I of course, pray. Sometimes I pray to the universe, sometimes I pray to the sky, sometimes I pray to a tree. Because I don't know who my “God” is, I pretty much pray to anything that I think will listen. Sometimes I feel guilty that I don't have the kind of faith that others do.  That they can look beyond all the sadness and tragedy in the world and still see a beautiful earth. Sometimes I pray to be able to see the world through their eyes. And then I pray to please not hold it against me when I don't.  The idea of prayer, God, and religion in this book, is that you don't have to subscribe to any one thing.  The author elicits the help of gurus and medicine men, partakes in mantras and chants, and endures endless hours of self reflection, all in hopes to become closer to God.  What you learn through her experiences is that no matter what you believe, you only have to follow what is true to you, whatever truth that may be. The idea is that we are all connected and instead of looking outward for answers on whether or not God exists, you simply have to look inside yourself and seek God from within.

LOVE
The majority of this book deals with the author's quest for balance, although I never quite connected the two words until now.

There are many kinds of love. The love we have between family, friends, husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends... shoes.  Yes there are many kinds of love indeed, and after all, love is the most important thing there is.  Although I have been very fortunate to have had such an outpouring of love from my family and friends there are two kinds of love that remain a challenge.  The truth of the matter is I have actually never been in love.  This admission, although disconcerting, is important if I am ever to learn from the mistakes I've made in the past. Because I have never experienced this type of love its made me afraid of it, and I have even gone to the extent where I've pushed it away.  The author of the book deals with the fact that for the first time since she was 15 she is completely alone and can't seem to find balance, having been in relationships her whole adult life.  I am the complete and utter opposite, and oddly enough find myself in search of the same need for balance, and before reading this book, didn't understand why I couldn't find it.  Why it is that I can't find it has to do with the other type of love, the love that just might be the hardest to cultivate, and at the root of all the other kinds of love there is.  It is the love you have for yourself.  After I read the book I went to see the movie, (and if you're wondering, yes the book was better), but there was a line in the movie which I believe sums it up the best.  "Balance is not letting anyone love you less than you love yourself."  It is when you truly understand this, that you will find both the love and the balance that you seek.

"The 108th Bead" or "The End"
There comes a point in the book where it can get a little laborious to have to endure another sentence about how the author feels sorry for herself.  If you can look beyond the self wallowing and view the author as a messenger of the wisdom she received from the people she met along the way, then it really can be inspiring.  It also offers a great visualization of different cultures and the scenery she describes in Bali alone makes me want to get on a plane just to see a rice field.  I think it's also important to make this point clear- what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.  In this book, for this author, she found her answers in Italy, Indonesia, and India. The answers you seek may very well be found at the beach, the bar, or your own backyard. The book is simply a tool to motivate if answers about your life are what you seek.  For those people who have mastered the art of life- you need not go here.