Elizabeth Gilbert published her bestselling book Eat, Pray, Love in 2006. I’ve wanted to read it for a long time, but didn’t have the chance until recently. Just as everything happens to Liz for a reason, I think it’s no coincidence that I wasn’t able to read this book until this particular time in my life, and fitting that I couldn’t find it at the library and decided to buy my own copy.
I tweeted about the book when I had just started reading, and I got a lot of positive responses. But, when I mentioned it to my mom, she said she’d read it and hadn’t really enjoyed it. In fact, when her book group read the book last year, half of them hated it and half of them loved it. Personally, I loved it. I was the nerd who created a special note in my Blackberry so I could keep track of the words of wisdom I wanted to go back to when I was done. I don’t want to write a book review here, but I do want to share my thoughts on some of her thoughts, and why they’re so important.
First, let me just say that I totally admire Liz Gilbert for taking such drastic steps to make her life better, and putting herself first. I also commend her for chronicling this incredibly personal journey and sharing it with the world. We think writing open and honest blog posts is challenging and courageous and risky…she poured her heart into 334 pages of a New York Times Bestseller. She also happens to be a fantastic writer, and I’m really jealous of the way she puts emotions into words. I think the first time I knew I would be able to relate to her story was when she said, “I’d been living in a giant trash compactor of anxiety.”
If I needed any further proof, there’s a story Liz tells about the dairy farmer she befriends at the ashram in India. His father doesn’t understand the need to meditate because he already has, what she terms, a quiet mind. However, neither Liz nor the dairy farmer can relate, hence the trip to the ashram. My mind is anything but quiet, so it was particularly interesting to read how she struggled with her overactive thoughts throughout her journey. I’m not planning on traveling to India anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take what she learned and apply it to my own life. For example:
“The Yogic sages say that all the pain of a human life is caused by words, as is all the joy. We create words to define our experience and those words bring attendant emotions that jerk us around like dogs on a leash. We get seduced by our own mantras (I’m a failure…I’m lonely…I’m a failure…I’m lonely…) and we become monuments to them. To stop talking for a while, then, is to attempt to strip away the power of words, to stop choking ourselves with words, to liberate ourselves from our suffocating mantras.”
Liz discovers the truth in this when she travels alone to the island of Gilo Meno and forces herself to stay silent for the entirety of her time there. Though most of us probably won’t have an opportunity like she had, it doesn’t mean we can’t take this lesson to heart. Our words do cause pain, to ourselves and others, and even if we can’t stay silent, maybe we can listen closer and think before we speak.
Part of Liz’s journey is untangling herself from the web of bad relationships she’s had in her life. This becomes one of her most difficult struggles, but she realizes the importance of letting go and moving on. At one point, she says, “As smoking is to the lungs, so is resentment to the soul; even one puff of it is bad for you.” This line reminded me of Grace’s post on forgiveness. Her father advised her that “holding onto resentment can cause emotional and physical problems to the person that holds onto the resentment.” We can become so consumed with anger and overwhelmed by hurt that we don’t realize we’re only making it worse.
I could probably write a whole series of posts on all of the wisdom I gathered from this book, but I’ll end with the ones that spoke to me the most. Liz writes, “When you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find your way to a better place. But, if someone can assure you that they themselves have stood in that same place, and now moved on, sometimes this will bring hope.” It’s funny because this is exactly what this book has done for me, and this is why I write the way I do on this blog. This is why I am so open and honest about the things I have gone through in my life. I have stood smack dab in the center of that forest, and I know just how true this is. If by sharing my stories, I can give just one person hope, then it’s totally worth it.
Appreciation is my thing. I’m big on making every moment count, taking time to look around and be grateful for what you have. So, it will probably come as no surprise that I’m adding this to my words to live by: “You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.” Sometimes life sucks. We have long days, months, and years, where we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But, no matter how difficult life may be at any given moment, we are still living it, and that is something for which we should always be grateful.
What do you think of the passages I selected? Have you read Eat, Pray, Love? What did you think? What were some of your favorite words of wisdom? Are there other books you have read that have truly inspired you? Have you been on a journey of self-discovery like Liz Gilbert?
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