Eat, Pray, Love

Yes, as you may already have figured out, this brief post is about Elizabeth Gilbert's widely-read autobiographical book (since made into the movie) Eat, Pray, Love.

I'm not usually the type of person who dives into reading the "popular" books that seem to fit into a fad-type craze; I've got everything lining my shelves from Julio Cortázar's short stories, Hermann Melville's Moby Dick, and other authors including Anne Lamott, Miguel de Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, Brian McLaren, Bill Richardson, and Gabriel García Márquez. However, as one who enjoys reading a variety of genres, I recognize that some bestsellers certainly have earned that distinction. This book, in my opinion, is deserving of the recognition it has achieved.

I was first turned on to Eat, Pray, Love by my friend Heather, a delightfully exuberant, intelligent, and passionate woman who is presently working and living overseas. We entered into an engaging and lively discussion about the book on Facebook, where she had posted an interview with the author herself. While some might view Elizabeth Gilbert as narcissistic and others as paving the way to a kind of personal enlightenment, I am of the opinion that she brings a bit of each extreme to her writing. She is undeniably vulnerable and up-front in her writing, extrapolating (to varying degrees) upon everything from depression and divorce to meditation and Italian cuisine. And her writing is absolutely compelling!

It is my suspicion that we all have something of a narcissist in us, and I believe that, if we allow ourselves an open mind and a string of hope, this same narcissism can take us from absorption with ourselves to recognition of what is "working" in our lives and what isn't, and then to the reality of improving upon who we are and how we live -- thereby assisting in a transformative work in us which, I must clarify, I believe is never done as long as we live. And isn't that beautiful? To think that nobody has "arrived"; nobody is complete or perfect or has it all figured out. We all move along throughout this life, sometimes more aligned with love and peace, and sometimes less . . . but all with the same potential for self-discovery and ability to make a positive impact on the world and the community in which we live. Because if self-discovery stops at self, I believe it is an exercise in futility. For how can a lone narcissist bring any love or light to the world without selfless interaction with it?

Those are just some of my thoughts on the subject. And, as someone who once swore off the whole idea of getting married because of varying experiences in my own life (and in part just to break with the whole idea of conformity and conventionalism), I, too, have had to work through the question of what marriage means in my own life, and what are the roles I play and why. (Let me just take the opportunity to state here how thrilled I am to be eating crow for my premature proclamation that I would never marry!) And, in light of all this, I look forward to reading Gilbert's other autobiographical account in her book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage.

For an interview between Ann Patchett (another brilliant author) and Elizabeth Gilbert, concerning marriage and its role in society today, click here.

As a bit of an afterthought, all this talk of "To marry or not to marry" has reminded me of how it was that Ramón and I got engaged. Hmmm. Methinks that story begs a whole post of its own!