Book review: Eat, Pray, Love

My “just in case” items turned out to be unnecessary, as I did not lose power or any other utilities when Hurricane Sandy reached a rainy, stormy arm over Ohio – except for my internet.  The power was out in the town where I work, so I had an unexpected day off.  How great, I thought, I can clean the kitchen and start my Reverse 100 Things Challenge today!

And then I slept until 11am, had lunch with my partner in downtown Cleveland, and spent the entire afternoon and evening eating spaghetti, sleeping, and reading Eat, Pray, Love.

This is a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it on my “Minimalist Reading List,” which thus far includes just one other book (Scratch Beginnings).  I’ll read Walden soon, though, and then I will have three.  Please recommend some!

According to the dust jacket, “By the time she turned thirty, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern, educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want – a husband, a house in the country, a successful career.  But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief and confusion.  She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love and the complete eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.

To recover from all of this, Gilbert took a radical step.  In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, left her loved ones behind and undertook a year-long journey around the world, all alone…

Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment.  It is also about the adventures that can happen when a woman stops trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals.  This is a story certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.”

I adore this book.  Easily one of my top five. 

By page eleven, I loved this woman and I was so excited to join her on her journey around the world.  Her adventure.  I wanted to learn from her and take wisdom from her experiences that I could not replicate (I do not possess the mental fortitude to just pack up and leave for a year).  And I did.  Her story is so wonderful, so full of growth and inspiration.

Having recently gone through my own divorce, I connected with her immediately, because I knew very well all of the feelings she was describing.  The guilt, the anger, the loss, the GUILT, the phantom thoughts, and let’s not forget the guilt.  I took solace in her spiritual journey and silently cheered when she found a place where she could let go of her ex-husband in the knowledge that her worldly part of their relationship was over and that their souls would take it from there.  I felt like her story could be my story.  You know, if I were a successful author with the means and willingness to leave everything behind and take a transcendent journey to peace, love, and self-knowledge.

Maybe I will, yet.  For now, this book is enough.  It’s got me thinking big-picture things.

I strongly encourage you to read it.  Let me know what you think!