Book Club of One

It is rare that I will read a non-fiction book. I read because I like to lose myself in a good story, and reading non-fiction often reminds me that life doesn't always have happy endings and rainbows. Whereas in the books I usually read the girl always gets her man, the bad guy is always caught, and there are always quite a few scenes of lascivious behavior in which I find myself re-reading over the course of the whole story...for referencing purposes of course!

Currently I am reading a book that a good friend of mine recommended. Not so surprisingly, it is non-fiction, which is more of the genre that she likes to read. The last non-fiction book I read was Three Cups of Tea, which was phenomenal, so I decided to give this recommended read a chance since the last non-fiction piece I read was a success!

Eat, Pray, Love is a story of a woman's search for everything she needs to rediscover in herself in a year long journey through Italy, India and Indonesia. I'm almost done with the first third of the book, reading all about her devastating divorce and what led to her decision to make this journey, and her first stop in her trip to Italy which will last four months. As an avid reader and collector, I am always extremely respectful of my books making sure never to ruin the binding and NEVER dog-ear, write, highlight, etc in any of my books. Well, I'm only up to page 85 and I've already broken two of my cardinal observations of respect numerous times.

There is just so much packed into these pages. Lessons learned, stories to remember, experiences that I want for myself...it's incredible! I find myself taking my time reading this book, soaking in everything that the author has to offer in her experiences. It has me longing for my own journey to find myself. It has me rethinking a lot of my relationships with my own family. It has me analyzing my whole outlook in general on what is really important in life, and what is not so much. It has helped to redefine so much within myself, I ache to share this incredible story with everyone.

One good lesson taken away from Gilbert's incredible self-discovery is how to cope with loneliness. "When I get lonely these days, I think: So be lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings."

Another, about how crazy we all feel life is sometimes. "I look at the Augusteum [ruined temple in Rome], and I think that perhaps my life has not actually been so chaotic, after all. It is merely this world that is chaotic, bringing changes to us all that nobody could have anticipated. The Augusteum warns me not to get attached to any obsolete ideas about who I am, what I represent, whom I belong to, or what function I may once have intended to serve. Yesterday I might have been a glorious monument to somebody, true enough-but tomorrow I could be a fireworks depository. Even in the Eternal City, says the silent Augusteum, one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation."

Wise woman, that Liz Gilbert.