Eat Pray Love, a surprisingly hate and love read for me

-

Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert
softbound, 334 pages
Memoir, Penguin, 2006

It is hard to start reading a book when one has a slight negative prejudice towards it. Before I saw the movie, I already skimmed a few pages of it in a bookstore and I was turned off by the very idea that the author wanted to avoid: Another tale of prozac-filled brain in a cold urban jungle of New York City by a woman who divorced her husband and a society filled with sexual permissiveness but devoid of spiritual warmth. As a starter, I really hated too much anxiety-filled drama so that I did not decide to read this one then.

But I came to read it this June and I am glad I was ready for it. It was a delightful read as it tackles a personal spiritual journey (or I must say, journey towards selfhood). I got her now than when I was skimming the book in my 20s. There is a point in our lives when we are faced with a question whether we made a right decision all along or just tagged along the linear dictates of society. To settle down only means to get a career, get married, have children, send them to college and send them off to real life. That is not even linear to me. If we choose a different path, the society seems to bombard us with doubts. But that is life, it is dynamic and there is no such thing as a straight line in life, whatever life and love life we choose embrace. Society has no answer so that the higher being is sought after for the answer. I did not take special notice on this spiritual journey when I was skimming the first few pages long ago.

So the author, who was prescribed with anti-depressants and contemplated suicide and prayed for the first time in the bathroom decided to find God, ended up finding herself. In her journey, she went to Italy so she can eat passionately so she regained her health, she meditated a lot in India and followed a vegetarian diet, and she found balance in her life in Bali where passion/art and religion are known and as a bonus, she found her new love there.

The author has so much transparency over her many vulnerabilities which I can say she is courageous and straightforward. She also has a keen observation and the ability to put herself as the object of her own humor. She made a heavy subject light. It is  actually like drinking whiskey but one feels like she's only having a champaigne.  

We are all anxious over what the world throw at us, whether we are married, single, with children or no children, but it is in finding an anchor whatever it may be in religion, in friendship, in art, in meditation, in words. Lastly, it is not a fault to always look for love, passion, romance, friendship. Of course, for the author, I am glad that she has finally found someone to reassure her worth.

Lastly, I just want to add that I am in love with anything about Italy right now, so I had a wonderful time on the section under Italy. To Italy, I want to attraversiamo!


Location: Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you still remember how Sarali or Sirali taste?

-
Image
This "Sarali" is a childhood fruit for everyone who grew up in the Visayan area of the Philippines. Also known as  Flacourtia jangomas or Indian Plum or coffee plum, Sarali is best enjoyed by pressing one fruit between one's palm, move it in circular motion until tender, and pop the soft flesh quickly in one's mouth save the seeds. Just like apple, this fruit oxidizes quickly and thus, gets dark brown easily. It can give one's teeth a nasty brown shade. Sour with a hint of sweet, this is a must-try fruit. I believe, the fruit has an economic value just like sarguellas and lanzones. *** *** *** ***  Related readings:  Possible Treatment of Diabetes http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2959214/ Anti bacterial property:  http://www.ijplsjournal.com/issues%20PDF%20files/july2011/1.pdf
Read more

TIKUM KADLUM (The Enchanted Dog, The First of the Ten Epics of Panay Bukidnon)

-
Image
At the house. One day, Bulawanon engaged the help of Tikum Kadlum, a hunting dog with the gift of sensing the spirits, in cooking rice for his husband Paiburong and his brother Dumaraog who will be going hunting. When the rice was cooked, the brothers ate fast. Then, while Bulawanon packed the betel nut for her husband, Paiburong and Dumaraog dressed themselves, with Dumaraog suggesting they match their sashes and belts, since he is his brother's loyal protector. To complete their hunting preparations, the two brought out their long-bladed sharp knives, shields, spears, and lances from their gold chest and wall hanger. When everything is set, Paiburong bade goodbye to his wife, Bulawanon, who reminded her husband to be careful as he might meet in the forest one named Makabagting, who is accompanied by a man-eating woman called Muwa. Makabagting is a nobleman and a warrior who is widely known as having tasted human flesh. Paiburong went out of his house, and he heard a sound. It
Read more

Linabog nga Bisaya nga Manok

-
Image
When I searched for Linabog in th web, I can see entries on Linabog but using a different souring agent and usually the fish called "pagi" is used. Also, they attribute Linabog to the Cebuanos and there is one video which explained that the word means "throw away" because the parts used in the dish are parts which are usually to be thrown away, like the bony "pagi." Meanwhile, there is also a "kinunot" way of cooking which means "hinimay" or flaked for the Luzon. The name was also coined for leftover parts of fish or chicken. In Hiligaynon, the word "labog" means forcefully thrown away.  This surprised me because when I was small, I heard from my father and his friends about this linabog and they used the leaves of labog plant. So I grew up having some idea of what linabog cooking means and definitely, the Cebuanos' definition of Linabog dish is far from my Ilonggo definition. And yes, Ilonggos
Read more