Eat, Pray, Party

At the moment it appears Eat, Pray, Party would be a more appropriate name for my own novel. After seeing the movie this weekend I remembered how much the book spoke to me, and in particular the "love" part. Ever since reading Elizabeth Gilbert's book "Eat, Pray, Love" I can confess to being somewhat of a wannabe. Really though, did anyone really know what an ashram was before reading her book? I think not. Ms. Gilbert's book had more impact on my life than I care to acknowledge. If it weren't for her I wouldn't have quit my lovely government job for a year (and now longer) to experience the thrill of the unknown including living at a now infamous ashram.

Similar to Gilbert it was a romantic love gone awry that somewhat pushed me over the edge (silly boys). At the time I left for Yogaville I was getting over a break up with my best friend of 12 years and found out my boyfriend of nine months was married. (insert sign of disgust here) After the ashram I headed to China which wasn't quite like Bali, but part of Asia nonetheless. I didn't fall in love there (although I did at the ashram), and instead spent time experiencing love with my family in a foreign country.

At the end of my time away I didn't end up with a Brazilian from Bali, but like Gilbert I found peace in myself. Gilbert's time in Italy reminded me of my own urge for pleasing my tastebuds that so often gets ignored (before I moved to SF of course). Living at an ashram I identified with the part longing for connection with the divine. As for love, that's everywhere. Let's face it "Eat, Pray, Love" dives into our innate desires for pleasure, spirituality, and romantic love. After a year away from my former life I now realize I didn't need to go so far to find them. My life includes all of these aspects....San Francisco itself incapsulates pleasure in the form of food, spirituality in its myriad forms of people, and love in the form of well...love. How wonderful to actually  live the life I imagined instead of just reading about it.

Today I'm grateful for movies with Hayley, cream of asparagus soup, and airplanes.