"Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

     I have been insanely stressed this year!  One of the things I've picked up in order to keep myself from internal combustion is...reading for pleasure.  As a teacher, I read constantly.  Whether it's my class novel or story, my students' writing, or a professional book or article, I have to read in order to stay ahead and in the game.  I kind of lost the feeling of JUST reading.  Over the past couple of weeks, I've started to read for me.  It is a really easy way for me to escape and forget all the stress of the real world even if it's just for a half an hour or so.
     Before I began this "new adventure," I did a little research and self-evaluating to come up with a Book Bucket List.  These are some books that I've either come across as interesting or been recommended by a friend.  I deliberately left off professional reads so that I can escape in what I'm reading.  I'll read the education eventually as work demands.  I started out with some books that I never read through high school but always wanted to...like Life of Pi and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.  Then I researched some of the books trending in the past couple of years...like The Fault in Our Stars and The Help.  I also found a blog that discussed the "Rory Gilmore Book Challenge."  (Rory Gilmore is a character from a TV series on the WB.  Through out the series, she mentioned 250 books in some way, shape, or form.)  I'm not going to read them all because some are just not my cup of tea but I copied the list just as a guideline.  A lot of them I had actually already read!
     My first book of the "season" was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It has now been made into a Hollywood movie staring Julia Roberts.  I actually have a really hard time reading a book after I've seen the movie.  For example, I'd love to say that I've read the Lord of The Rings trilogy but...I've already seen the movies.  My fiance highly recommends the Song of Fire and Ice series but...I've already seen four seasons of Game of Thrones.  It's like I already know what will happen next so my brain stops reading.  Weird, I know!
     Anywho, I don't exactly know what made me choose this but I'm so grateful that I did!  The story is a diary almost of Gilbert's journey in Italy, India, and Indonesia.  She goes through a rough patch and decides to get away.  She eats in Rome, prays in India, and loves in Bali.  Who wouldn't want to do this?!?!  The novel is so relatable...everybody has had a rough patch (come on ladies, we've all cried in the bathroom at some point) and dreamed of getting away from it all.  Gilbert just actually did it!  We get to read about it.
     Her journey and transformation brought so much perspective and peace for me.  I may not take on Sanskirt meditation, but a lot of the thoughts will stay with me in those times of stress.  I'm going to watch the movie this weekend and look forward to reading the sequel, Committed.  I highly recommend this book!

Some of my favorite quotes:
“Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.” 

“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it."

“Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly.” 

“Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.” 

“Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.” 

“You have the opposite of poker face. You have like.. miniature golf face.” 

...there are so many more that I can't think of or find...but OMG reeeeaaaad this book :)