god via pizza

Finally finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I am probably one of the last people to read it, I know. When I started it a couple of weeks ago, my initial reaction was why do I want to read this?

Not for anything but here is the story of a woman who pretty much had everything our culture teaches us is means we won the jackpot. She was educated, had a good job, a loving family, a husband, and a lovely home. As an added bonus, she is also good-looking. Yet here she is having a breakdown on her bathroom floor in the middle of the night? Why would anyone want to read that?!

And so I put it down. I didn't want to read about someone who was unhappy despite having everything she wanted (or at least thought she wanted). How depressing.

But then the author was on the late night repeat of Oprah. And yes, I stayed up and watched it despite B's objection to the Big O.

Honestly, I still wasn't sure what to expect. There was one woman in the audience who shared that she had found God after reading this book. Another woman turned her walk-in closet into a sanctuary, proving that you didn't need to go to India to for a spiritual journey. Of course another woman hopped on a plane and found the medicine man in Bali. The audience was full of women who carried this book around like a personal bible. Despite that some of them were ready to make Elizabeth Gilbert their personal Jesus, I had to see for myself.

I made it through Italy on the first night and then India and Indonesia on the second. There were parts that spoke to me, but overall I don't think there is much new here. It reminded me of Conversations with God and Carolyn Myss. Elizabeth Gilbert just ate more pasta - her nickname in India was "Groceries".


on the night stand :: Eat, Pray, Love