A journey inward with Eat, Pray, Love

When I turned the last page of Eat, Pray, Love, I felt as if I was saying farewell to a good friend.  I hear the refreshing, unabashed and genuine voice of Elizabeth Gilbert even now that I'€™m done reading the book, because I learned a great deal about myself following this woman'€™s journey to self-love.

Eat, Pray, Love is a three-part chronicle about Gilbert's travels in Italy, India and Bali, respectively.  Fleeing post 9/11 New York after a painful divorce and an even harder rebound affair, Gilbert goes to Italy to fatten up and experience pleasure for pleasure's sake in the form of food, wine and friends.  In India, she joins an ashram founded by her guru and embarks on a fulfilling, if difficult, few months of praying, chanting and self-examination.  Onward to Bali, Gilbert makes friends with two local healers and unexpectedly finds romantic love.

Gilbert's travel adventures are entertaining enough but it's her journey inward that strikes a chord.  Her candid account of disillusionment and the quest for joy is also a useful handbook on how to manage things petty while focusing on the bigger picture.  I really learned a great deal from passages that described her most painful moments -- for example, crying on the bathroom floor pondering over the fact that she no longer wanted to be married --“ buoyed in turn by passages that described turning points, moments of healing.

In the Pray section of the book, Gilbert writes about a particularly difficult chant she couldn't stand that she eventually came to love. This is just one of the lessons from the book to carry each day, true of any healing practice:  don't take the path of least resistance; instead, break any resistance on the path and turn it around. Gilbert's process of adversity-turned-advantage is worth the read.

Some critics may argue the book is a self-absorbed memoir.  I'€™ll argue so what? We all have a story to tell and if yours enriches mine, then I welcome your words with open arms.  Gilbert practices what she preaches:  any self-improvement practice that makes her a better person will affect others all the more.  Healing, prosperity and love on the individual level also has a family, community domino effect.   I couldn't agree more.

Gilbert'€™s "search for everything" really boils down to the search for self and connection to spirituality in a very fragmented world. This is a great read for any woman (or man) ever being on the brink of something, perhaps a great leap of faith -- getting rid of that extra flab, dealing with mosquitoes, ornery real estate deals, the risk of romance or whatever --€“ it's the dealing with that's so inspiring about this book.

Eat, Pray, Love is more than a book. It's a quiet, refreshing conversation.

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Don'€™t miss Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah this Friday, October 5.   As well, Eat, Pray, Love will be a major motion picture starring Julia Roberts.  Learn more about Gilbert online and at belief.net