Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Eat, Pray, Love

I just finished this book. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was recommended to me by friends from work, and of course a #1 Best SELLER!! Which isn't a accolade I really pay attention to. Honestly I tend to pick my books either by author, those I have read before, or by the cover. I know, I know. Don't judge a book by its cover!!! However, that is what draws me in. The type of font, the size, the title, the enticing art, and photos. I am visual. I love the cover of books. Even bright or warm colors can draw me in. But this one, this one was deemed a worthy read by friends. PS I do love the cover!

I, myself, deem is a worthy read. It definitely goes into my "PLEASE READ ME" labels. Elizabeth writes about her travels through Italy, India, and Indonesia. She is searching for peace and really in the end to find her true self. A self that is not questionable or haunted by her past. She lives in each of these places for months at a time, and tend to travel with no plans at all. I find her character funny and insightful. She writes from her heart with honesty and is not afraid of all the stereo types and fears that we all have about eating, praying, and loving. I loved her chapters of adventures in Italy and Indonesia. India was still interesting but it just didn't hit me the same way.
  • So, here are my favorite things... in Indonesia, Liz meets with Ketut. You will read the book and meet him too. She of course in the, LOVE, section meets someone. Ketut makes sure that he "spoils" her. I adore this term. I am spoiled sometimes, although my husband is not the "romantic". But in his own ways he is romantic and I, after three years, have been able to see them more. "Spoil" is such a tasty word for what we as loving humans want from each other.
  • "I disappear into grace, hovering over the void like a tiny seashell balanced on a teaspoon." -Eat, Pray, Love This is such a beautiful statement. In her context it means a variety of things. When I pull it out and apply it to my own life, it is different and something that I do not fully understand. Grace is such an amazing thing. I believe that I am saved by grace. That there is nothing I can do to earn my life with Christ. If I disappear into this forgiveness and love of grace I can still fall sometimes. Just like hovering like a tiny seashell on the smallest spoon possible. Human nature can knock me off just as fast as I got on.
  • "To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life." -Eat, Pray, Love This is so true in my life. In the beginning of falling in love life feels completely off balanced and that offsetting of balance is part of living a balance life. We need that unbalanced piece to lend hand to future the future balancing act that our life will face. Even in my marriage my love for my husband can knock my balance off, but it also can make me stronger afterwards.

4 comments:

Lib said...

dude, i loved this book too. i read it last summer. you can tell i loved it because i totally got the title for my blog from it!

i don't know about her theology...thinking it's cool to divorce your hubby and take off on an indulgent trip for a year, but that aside, i loved the book, the way she writes, and especially her description of italy!!

Lib said...

dude...i LOVED this book. i read it last summer. obviously i loved it, because i totally got the title for my blog from it!

i think that Gilbert's theology is a bit whack, and i don't know about ditching your husband to take off on a year of self indulgant travels, but that aside i loved the book and the way she writes and i think there are some great tidbits in this book. loved her description of Italy, especially.

Lib said...

okay so basically i've left three comments now and i don't know where they've gone!

Unknown said...

Here they are lib!!! How funny! I completely agree with you about her theology, however there were a lot of great pieces to pull out. Sometimes we do need to induldge for ourselves, so that we can continue to give ourselves! Thanks for commenting!