Eat, Pray, Love

I just saw an Oprah show that featured the author of the book Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert. Here is an excerpt from Oprah's website:

Thirty-one year old Elizabeth Gilbert had the husband, the career and the
life that so many women envy. But privately, she was falling apart on her
bathroom floor night after night. Liz left her husband, filed for divorce and
took a leap of faith by embarking on a spiritual journey that sent her to Italy,
India and Bali. Her quest to reclaim her life has now been experienced by the
millions who have read her book Eat, Pray, Love.

She explains what got her to this place of despair..."It was about that I had woken up to the fact that my life no longer resembled me. It didn't look like
me."

And more that is straight from Oprah's website:

Even before Liz took her breakthrough journey in Eat, Pray, Love, she says she has always been a traveler. "I've always been somebody who takes journeys," she says. "And I just wanted to get out of there. I felt like if I didn't, I would die. I felt like a squirrel in a box…sort of clawing at the walls of my life."

I know I can feel that way sometimes. It's when I'm home and swallowed up with needs from the kids that only I can fulfill. I could understand the "squirrel in the box" analogy. Although, I don't feel a need to go to Italy to find some peace, I appreciate that everyone has some thing they do to feel instant relief. For me, it's indulging in a pleasure for myself. Whether it be reading, watching a favorite show, cleaning up the house, cropping, eating, spending time with a friend in person or over the phone, eating out with my husband, etc.

Liz first went to Italy to find pleasure again. She ate, drank and felt no guilt. She gained a much needed 24 pounds onto her skinny frame. She was there for four months before heading to India where she found inner peace. She says you can't find yourself or your faith without some silence in your life. She believes it's the only way to hear your inner voice and God's voice. It was there that she had a life changing spiritual experience where she felt she was in the palm of God's hand. She spent 4 months as an ashram before heading to Bali where she searched for a balance of the freedom of pleasure and the discipline of daily prayer and meditation. It was there that she found love.

Even Liz says you don't have to go to foreign countries to find what she found. She says that you can follow your own journey right where you are. First, I want to get this book. But then, I also want to follow her steps:

1) Every day right down: What do you really, really, really want? Now, this is a broad question and people often don't like those. But if you answer it truthfully, you'll see the variety in your answers. I am going to do this for a month and see what transpires.

2) What was the happiest moment of your day? Sometimes this could be something simple like watching the view from your window, to taking a vacation. I could see the variety here also. I will record these answers for a month, too.

3)Change your mantra. Liz says we all have one. It's not always good, but we do. What do you tell yourself? What do you live by? Are you always saying "I wish, I wish, I wish"? If it's not working...change it.

I'm ready for this journey of discovering myself and what makes me happy. I think I've been discovering it and getting closer to getting my basic needs met...but it's always fun to find out more! Read her site to find out more about the book! I can't wait to read it myself!