Elizabeth Gilbert, EAT, PRAY, LOVE...

It was just by a stroke of luck that I happened to glance down at the newspaper, opened at exactly the right place and notice that Elizabeth Gilbert, author of EAT, PRAY, LOVE, was speaking at the Paramount Theater on Friday evening. What made it even more compelling for me was the fact that over the past two weeks, I had been thinking of re-reading EAT, PRAY, LOVE. A twelve day European vacation had gotten me inspired to re-visit the book and see if it might resonate even more on reading it the second time around. What a surprise to see that she was speaking here in Austin, Texas, that very night.

For anyone who isn't familiar with Elizabeth's story, here is the nutshell version. A seriously depressed, unhappily married woman is lying on the bathroom floor contemplating where she "was" in her life. She manages to literally pick herself up off the floor, divorce her husband, and take off for Europe and beyond. She encounters lovely people, eats fabulous food, finds spirituality, and eventually finds and marries the love of her life...big, big sigh!

Now I don't have to tell anyone that this is almost every "grown up woman's fairytale" in some form. Women tend to fantasize this type of story, especially if experiencing PMS. So, off to the Paramount Theater I go, hoping to gather tips on "How to Run Off to Europe and Become Famous and Fabulously Happy Like Elizabeth Gilbert." Very exciting stuff!

Elizabeth is at once charming, funny, and her voice is like a warm slow drip of honey...yum! She also speaks in the same way that she writes, in a charming and folksy dialect...double plus! She managed to pull the audience directly into her comforting embrace and hold us there for about an hour.

Now, what she spoke about was a little different than I had expected...she actually talked about post EAT, PRAY, LOVE. After her inauguration by Oprah as "A Rock Star Author" and the huge "EPL" phenomenon worldwide, there was a sense that life would only continue in fairytale fashion. However, she wanted to let all of us know that LIFE tends to once again, um, uh, resemble LIFE. She then proceeded to share with us a few stories to demonstrate that she is capable of disappointing people like her parents, people at speaking engagements, and book publishing companies, to name a few. Her first attempt at writing the follow up to "EPL," caused her to consider that she may be "a one hit wonder."

Elizabeth's message to the audience was that everyone, famous or otherwise, can get caught up in trying to please others and lose their way. In her case, she was trying to satisfy book publishers, millions of fans, and putting tremendous pressure on herself. The manuscript for the second book that she was about to submit was a complete failure in her eyes...she had to make a phone call to the publisher. Amends were made and she decided to take one year of her life and dedicate it to gardening.

In doing this, she thought of nothing but tending her little plot of land. At the end of the year, as she was readying the soil for the winter...she was reflecting back on what joy she had experienced in this little garden paradise. Just at that time, the first perfectly formed sentence of the second book appeared in her mind's eye and she knew the second book was ready to be written. She is now in the process of completing the second book.

Take these words and apply them to your own life. If you are quiet, patient, and true to yourself, perhaps you have something that is ready to be born...

Love,
Henri