Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love (EPL) ... One Woman's Search ...

A good friend of mine writes a blog and recommended this book.  I emailed her a few questions about it, as I do love honest, truthful books that are in essence "lessons of life", but I don't want to wade through heavy reading at this time of my life - reading before bed is my only way to wind down after a long day amid teaching, family, kids.  She emailed me back and we started a dialogue about the book.  She told me it was about this one woman's particular personal journey, but she felt it was more about an individual's journey to find oneselves and grow.

At 36 years old I come with some knowledge, many mistakes, and a humbleness that there's still a lot to glean from the world. I find myself constantly assessing myself and checking in to see that I am living the life I want - and knowing that there is a pathway to finding peace with your own uniqueness mixed in.

So I picked up a copy of Eat, Pray, Love from my local library. I was attracted to the simple cover, but didn't really understand it until after I read through the book. The book is set up into three main sections, plus an introduction, and each section relates to a different country she traveled to and a different theme for the area - Italy = Eat, Pray = India, Love = Bali. 

The beginning of the book was pretty easy to relate to.  The book is written by the author, about the author's life. We quickly find that, while on the surface having the seemingly perfect life, Elizabeth Gilbert is not happy. Not happy with her too perfect house, her too perfect husband, her too perfect day.  She finds herself on her bathroom floor crying to God to help her find her way; a way she soon decides is to leave the life she's created.  Quickly she gets caught up in a new romance, and this one has it's ups and downs.  Realizing in part that she's still not found her true self, Gilbert decides to take a year off to travel to some places she's always wanted to go to and to find herself.

Italy

First Gilbert travels to Italy, in part because she's always wanted to learn Italian. She starts to take a class there, but then rather immerses herself in the culture to get a feel for it all. She makes a few friends and spends many days walking around talking and eating.  She allows herself to be open to others and to be engaging.  She is sort of free-spirited and does not really plan her days.  She gets very detailed in the food of the area.  She allows her physical body to heal with rest, food, comfort, and friendship. 

India

Gilbert then travels to an ashram in India. This has been a more planned event - she discovered when she was back in the United States a "guru" of sorts that had a school here where you could learn to meditate and pray. Gilbert figures this may help her on the path to peace.  This entire section is about the process she goes through, and what a struggle it is for her at first to find her way to relax and really take on the principles being taught.  She then finds her stride and really falls into a role at the ashram. She almost has to tear herself away from this place and its comfort and routine, because she had a commitment to the third place to visit ...

Bali

Gilbert also decides, when planning this journey, that she will learn from an very old medicine man she met on a trip there once before. She helps him with English and learning some of her customs and idioms, and she waits for him to impart on her some wisdom.  Somewhere along the way she strays off this path and spends a lot of times just enjoying her new found friends and loved ones. It is here that she really strikes the best balance between the previous two places, and really finds her heart.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book. After reading, I really understood the cover art as well -- Eat (with the pasta noodles), Pray (with the beads), and Love (with the flowers).  I found that the beginning of the book really let me see into her innermost thoughts and Gilbert as a writer is very candid.  It helped me really connect with her story and want to read more.  You sort of have to let your mind "go there", in the fact that a person could take a year off, finance a trip, and go "soul" searching.  Many of us, even if we wanted to do this, could never afford to leave and do so.

I found her descriptions of the places she traveled to really allowing me a glimpse of where she'd been. The way Gilbert wrote really felt like she was taking you along with her; maybe in her pocket or diary.  The story was intimate and identifiable. I especially identified with her sharing of her thoughts of doubt she often had within her own self - especially in the pieces in the ashram. How it was hard for her to let go of the control of life and just "be".  I did not find the book too preachy, religious, or non-religious. 

This book was not about love poems, what do you when you find love, what love can do, faith and love, how to eat, or things you love ... it's about finding ways to love yourself. Right now, right where you are at. 

It was easy for me to see why this book is so talked about. It touches on traveling, on culture, on relationships, on friendships, on giving, on finding peace, on having courage, on believing in yourself - and so much more. I can see many people reading this and taking different things from it depending on where they are in life.  I can see myself reading this book again a year from now and finding whole new things to think about.

I love a book that combines some easy reading with some reflective thought.  I am really happy that Eat, Pray, Love was recommended to me, and that I gave it a chance.