EAT - PRAY - LOVE

I like to read, love it actually. I am not the best reader but I love it anyway. I love biography's and autobiography's the most. I have always been a fan of documentarys which may explain it. I love any book or movie about anyone who overcomes anything. The harder the hardship the better. I do love a good beach read every so often (Bridget Jones Diary was great) but, I would rather read something that I know can and has actually happened.

A friend recommended Eat Pray Love to me so before I left California after a meeting, I bought it and began to read. That was in March and I just finished the book. Not because it was slow or boring but because for one of the first times, I took time to really read and understand and think about everything that she said. It took be so long to read because I did not want the book to end.

Elizabeth Gilbert (the author) spent one year in three different countries where she sought out something different from each. Italy, where she wanted to learn pure pleasure; India, where she wanted to learn about prayer and devotion and then Indonesia where she wanted to learn about love.

When people say that something changes their life, I always think..really? Your entire life huh? Well, I am not saying that about this book changed my life, but eye opening, definitely! So much in fact that this November, David and I will be taking a spiritual journey of our own when we attend a 10 day Vipassana Meditation course at a mediation sanctuary outside of Dallas. Ten days in silence, Ten hours a day meditating, Ten days not seeing each other, Ten days away from my dogs :( Ten days including Thanksgiving which for the first time, I will miss. Ten days that I really feel will, in fact, be life changing.

Why? That is the question that everyone has been asking and my answer..why not? If you know me you know that while my life can be a little mainstream (work 9-5, house with dogs, normal sleeping hours etc) you also know that my thoughts and what I want out of life are not mainstream, so that is the best answer that I have. Why go? because some of us would like to understand ourselves on a little bit of a deeper level than others care to know. Because after making the decision to not have children, I have decided instead to take every opportunity that comes my way, to embrace what I can out of life and live with no regrets. I hope that this starts out our path in that direction.

I recognize the difference in the people that I tell. Those with more of a traditional view on the world and life vs. those who have lived with more of an open attitude seem more understanding. Either way, it does not matter. I have always followed my own path. When confronted with a fork in the road, I have always tried to take the road less traveled and so far...it has led me on some incredible journeys. Glad to share them with you.

Get the book and read it!

Jennifer