Eat, Pray, Love

The novel Eat, Pray, Love has for a long time been one of my very favorite books. It is the wonderful and almost unbelievable, but true story of a woman's search for self-realization. Although her life is wonderful, she realizes that there is something that is missing. So she sets out for a year long journey to find out who she really is. She spends four months eating her way through Italy, four more praying her way through India, and the final four loving her way through Bali. At the end, she finally has a sense of peace and a better understanding of who she really is.

Now that this wonderful novel has become a motion picture, I have realized once again what a great story it is; a story I think that all young women should read and learn from. Last week, Julia Roberts was on Oprah, and Oprah asked her and others what the words Eat, Pray, Love mean to them. So, I've decided to share with the blogoshpere what those words mean to me.

EAT
Webster's dictionary defines the word eat as: to take in through the mouth as food : ingest, chew, and swallow in turn. However, there is much more meaning to it than that. For many women, including myself, the word eat and the action of eating is almost a taboo thought. From a young age, many women are made to feel that by eating, we will ruin our figure and in doing so, we will change or perhaps damage the perceptions that people have about us. However, as I get older, I realize that tomorrow is never promised, so while I'm here, I should enjoy eating the best foods and savoring them while I can. I should eat what I want, enjoy it, and not worry about how it may affect my love or social life. After all, like it says in the book and movie, no man ever left the room with a naked girl after he saw her stomach. He was just glad to be in the room with a naked girl. Also, I think that there is a social pleasure that also comes along with eating. I love getting together with friends both old and new over a good dinner or a girls lunch. It's such a pleasure to enjoy savory foods while catching up on each others lives.

PRAY
The word and action of praying takes on variety of meanings to people all over the world. I would even venture to say that most people would describe the word pray in vastly different ways and give it different meanings. To me, pray and praying takes place at the end of the night when no one else is around. It is accepting that there is something, a power, in this world that is bigger than me. Although I am not always sure who or what it is, I believe that there is someone or something out there pulling the strings of the universe. I honestly believe that there is no such thing as a coincidence and that things that happen, happen for a reason; even though we may not realize until way further down the line. So when I pray, I talk to the person pulling the strings. And for whatever reason, I whisper. Not sure why. Just what I've always done. Also, it's a part of my routine every night....I can't go to sleep without doing it.

LOVE
Initially, when we think of love, we think of flowers and roses and romantic dates. But I believe that love extends into having a passion. Whether it is a passion for a person, place, hobby, or thing. I believe that in order to add purpose to my life, I should try as hard as I possibly can to love every aspect of it...both good and bad. I love my job and the impact that it has on this world. I love to travel and experience new cultures so that I can better understand the world in which I live in. I love my friends and family because they are they keys to my past, present, and my future. I love the look on a parent's face when I told them their child spoke for the first time in class. I love the feeling I get every time I step off a plane in a new travel destination. I love the excitement that takes over my body every time the Cats win. I even love sleeping in on the weekends, drinking a cup of black coffee, and catching up on reality TV, because it truly is the little things that make life worth living.


With all that being said, I plan to Eat, Pray, Love, my way through the rest of my life. I feel that by doing this, like in the book and the movie, I will find the truer meaning of my purpose in this world.

And for those of you who have read the book and/or seen the movie, I'm still in search of my "word". The word that will define how I live my life!