Eat, Pray, Love – by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book has me mesmerized. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book the way I am reading this one. If I was religious, I would say I read it religiously – if I had ever read the Bible cover to cover I would say I read it like the Bible. I do read it slightly worshipingly… (That is not a word? Well, it is now!). I read it word by word, careful not to miss one. Careful not to read it too fast, because then I will get to the end, and then what? Then I might have to start it over again.

This woman is amazing. This woman writes exactly what I would write, if I looked inside my soul and had the talent to lay down on paper the feelings and images and thoughts that I found deep inside. This woman IS me, except she is 34. Hopefully I will have learned enough by 34, so that I can write something as enlightening and inspiring as this book is to me.

Every word is like an orchid petal. It is beautiful, light, and it fits perfectly exactly where it is. I touch the pages almost with fear when I turn them – what if the next page is not as perfect as this one? But they never disappoint. Every page is every bit as good as the last. The book is funny, and it’s unpresumptuous – the author doesn’t pretend to spread wisdom, or knowledge, or anything of the sort. She just wants to write about her own experience against the backdrop of the three countries she travels, Italy, India and Indonesia. She just does it so perfectly, I am converted. She speaks my heart!

She also makes me think seriously about what I want to do with my life, and where I want to find myself. Why am I here? Why am I here any more? And if not here, where?

My dad asked me if I didn’t come here (when I say here, I mean the US) to work… the truth is that no, I came here to study. This was my goal. And now I did it. Maybe it’s time to move on. But where? Where will life take me? Where do I want to go? All questions worth pondering… especially in light of my experiences here.

Read the book if it falls in your path. You never know what you may discover about yourself in the process.