There are worlds inside us waiting to be unlocked
Elizabeth Gilbert’s best selling book, Eat, Pray, Love, began where many of her readers have found themselves: kneeling on the bathroom floor in crisis. The book, and subsequent movie, is a narrative of the adventures following her divorce through Italy, India, and Bali. It is an exotic travel memoir with incredible scenes, transcendent experiences, and fascinating characters.
Her book was an account of making peace with the past and setting out to discover her authentic self. It gave women an example of a kind of journey in which the destination is a more truthful life.
This book inspired readers to begin or end romances, embrace motherhood or evade it, to change jobs, or address, or their beliefs. These radical shifts are transformations that don’t necessarily have anything to do with travel.
Gilbert says that the answers to her life are not likely to be found out there. She reminds us that, although the world is an enchanting place, there are worlds inside us too —worlds that are always ready to be unlocked. She mentions that she has a painting of Emily Dickinson, who spent much of her life in her bedroom but still created some of the most monumental poetry ever written.
She went on to write Big Magic, a guide for managing the fears, frustrations and blocks of creating, allowing readers to channel the playfulness they need to express themselves freely. In her other book, The Signature of All Things, which is the story of Alma Whittaker, inspired by the true-life adventures of real 19th century female botanical explorers, Gilbert remains an intrepid explorer of intellectual and emotional terrain.
Gilbert’s trademark blend is one of lightness and earnestness, common sense and magical realism, she says her serenity doesn’t come easily. She says she needs “a dose of courage every day”, because she’s frightened every day. There is a nervous little person inside her. But if there’s a creative project she’s afraid to attempt, a truth she needs to tell, or a painful new reality she must face, she asks herself: “What’s the alternative?”
She says that every day she writes herself a letter from love-divine unconditional love. She asks for advice, and love always gives her kind answers, which she writes down as they come to her. Even in her darkest hours, love has always shown up, saying, “I’m right here. I’ve got you. You’re never alone.”
The one mystery she would most love to solve is about the amount of control we humans have over our behavior and personality. Can we change our nature, or are we all just victims of our brain chemistry, genetics, hormones, and upbringing?
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