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“No matter what happens tomorrow or for the rest of my life, I'm happy now.”
Phil Connors, Groundhog Day
As I perused the listings on Audible.com’s site for an interesting audio travel book in the same vein as Peter Mayle’s books on Provence or Frances Mayes’ books about Tuscany, I came across Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir called “Eat, Pray, Love.” In it she chronicles a year that she gave to herself to indulge in three necessities of her life in the ultimate places in the world to experience them—Italy to restore her body with beauty and good food, India to get in touch with her soul, and tropical Indonesia where she hoped to fall in love. It sounded interesting, so I added it to my shopping cart.
Elizabeth Gilbert needed to take a year off to get her equilibrium back after a messy divorce. She felt beaten down and bereft of all energy. Since she’d previously gotten some answers to life’s questions from her guru, she decided to spend a third of that year in India at her guru’s ashram. A few years earlier, Gilbert had been to Bali while writing a magazine article about spa vacations. When she was there, she connected with an Indonesian healer who expressed his wish that she come back to help him with his English in trade for teaching her his way to meditate. He also prophesied after looking at her palm that she would find love there in Indonesia. She definitely needed to spend a third of her sabbatical year in Indonesia. The years of depression leading up to Gilbert’s divorce, left her feeling physically depleted. She had been taking Italian language lessons and decided that her remaining third of a year would be spent indulging in the beautiful language and tasty food of Italy.
It is remarkable how little time it took her to get her groove back when she practiced mindful relaxation and acceptance of abundance. After a year of focusing on “I” (Italy, Indonesia, and India) Gilbert found she was able to rejoin the community of “we.”
I loved the author’s narration of her exploits and relationships through this year of wonder. I vicariously experienced her large meals, resplendent journeys and supportive friends and family and felt like I’d taken my own sabbatical from real life while listening to this astounding audiobook. Gilbert has a great, quirky sense of humor and the ability to laugh at herself when she’s made a disastrous mistake. She wonderfully changes her voice to imitate her Texan friend’s drawl, her Italian men’s romantic accents and her Indonesian friends’ use of a pidgin English.
I highly recommend “Eat, Pray, Love” to anyone needing to take a break from the hectic pace of their own life. It reminded me that we can never indulge ourselves too much.
Audio Book Details
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Narrator: Elizabeth Gilbert
Provider: Penguin Audiobooks
Running Time: 12 h 50 min
Book Details
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 30, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143038419
ISBN-13: 978-0143038412
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
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