Book #7 - Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book was an entirely different type of read for me. I'm sure your are wondering why did it take me a week to read. This was a story of a woman's journey from broken and shattered to strong and vibrant. The journey from Italy to India to Indonesia documented in her 108 tales describes her passion for food and culture, spirituality and meditation, and finding the balance between two seemingly irreconcilable lives. I struggled through parts of this book, and found on many nights, I couldn't make it through more than a few stories at a time. Parts of the book (especially India) seemed to drag on, but I take from this several ideas. First, the author describes having children like "getting a tattoo on your face. You better be sure you really want it." That I found hysterical and yet so true. There is no turning back once your home pregnancy test confirms that you are going to be a parent, ready or not. As she described the greatest meal of her life, in Naples, I couldn't help but go back to a time when my little sister called from southern Italy claiming she had just had the best meal of her life. Or, when she describes how she started taking Italian lessons because she thought it was the most beautiful language, I thought instantly of my friend Cindy who did the same thing several years ago. Although I learned many interesting insights into the people and customs of the places she went, I found a likeness between the author and myself. I can remember first hand the feeling of total and complete loss and begging God in that moment to save me. And in that moment, feeling His presence wrapped around me. I too have dealt with pushing out the negative thoughts and dwelling on the broken times of my life. Like the plumber in India, I too had a sweet wonderful man tell me that I must forgive in order to move on in life. And like the author, I too found the happiness in life again. I came through stronger, more resilient, and happier than I had ever been. Just happy to be in my own skin. Happy to be a teacher. And most especially, happy to let a man love me with his whole heart. Now, coming to the end of the blog, I see why I struggled with this book. Though I didn't travel to Italy, India, and Indonesia, I did travel to Nashville, TN to find myself, to heal myself, and to live with joy and balance in my life.