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Eat Pray Love
Barra
soto zenniewandering in a cloud in beautiful, bucolic Victoria BC, on the wacky left coast of Canada Veteran
Read the book? Seen the movie? What did you think?
Here's my take on it. I had read the book, and while I know that it is true and Elizabeth Gilbert seems like a true seeker, it had way too much of a Harlequin Romance vibe to it. I mean, who has a life like this - decides to give up her marriage. would like to go to Italy to learn Italian, to India to study with a guru, and to Bali to study with another guru. pitches the idea to a publishing house, which gives her $50,000 (!!!) to travel and gather material for a book.
Travels, ends up in Bali and falls in love with a romantic Brazilian. The end. (Wait a minute, was Cinderella's fairy godmother in there somewhere, or did I get the two stories mixed up?)
As for the movie, I went with a bunch of women friends, all of whom have traveled, some of whom meditate and who are at various stages in terms of their relationships. One of the group just loved the movie, and the rest of us appreciated it as a well filmed travelogue, some thought it was frivolous and as for me, the curmudgeon, I left muttering - "nobody in real life has a life like that......"
Here's my take on it. I had read the book, and while I know that it is true and Elizabeth Gilbert seems like a true seeker, it had way too much of a Harlequin Romance vibe to it. I mean, who has a life like this - decides to give up her marriage. would like to go to Italy to learn Italian, to India to study with a guru, and to Bali to study with another guru. pitches the idea to a publishing house, which gives her $50,000 (!!!) to travel and gather material for a book.
Travels, ends up in Bali and falls in love with a romantic Brazilian. The end. (Wait a minute, was Cinderella's fairy godmother in there somewhere, or did I get the two stories mixed up?)
As for the movie, I went with a bunch of women friends, all of whom have traveled, some of whom meditate and who are at various stages in terms of their relationships. One of the group just loved the movie, and the rest of us appreciated it as a well filmed travelogue, some thought it was frivolous and as for me, the curmudgeon, I left muttering - "nobody in real life has a life like that......"
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Comments
All it takes is some reflection on where you are at a particular age and the willingness and resolve to change it before life passes you by. Is this any different than a guy in his 40's that buys a Porsche, or leaves his family to go paint in Tahiti?
I'm a 48 year old man who 3 years ago did some deep thinking and decided to start living my life instead of letting it pass me by. No I don't travel or have the means to do it... but within the physical and economic confines of my life as well as my marriage and family life I have managed to change my life to the point where I can embrace each day and truly honestly say that I live each day as if it were my last and enjoy every moment that I can.
What it took was my sister's suicide, the sudden death of my dear mother in law and the realization that I had "wasted" the last 30 years with mind-numbing habits like unhealthy food, excessive tv watching and recreational use of mind altering substances.
In the last 3 years I have accomplished the following... all without having to travel abroad or spending vast amounts of cash.
I have also found that most things are inter-related and that one can borrow habits\techniques among the various activities. And that EVERYTHING we do must be PRACTICED consistently and EMBRACED in order to be enjoyable and to eventually reach some degree of mastery.
- Returned to music and now have been studying and playing classical guitar for 3 years. I have attended two 7 day workshops at the University of Cincinnati, take weekly classes and performed several times onstage.
- I have lost 70 lbs by eating, enjoying and embracing cooking and healthy foods, and am not at my optimal weight of 185lbs and a size 36" waist.
- I have Eliminated Type II Diabetes and high Cholesterol, as well as 8 drugs that I was prescribed.
- I Have returned to running up to 4 miles a day and now am transition into Barefoot (or minimalist shoes) running in order to run more naturally and with less injuries
- I Have been pursuing the study and practice of Buddhism through the teachings of the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. I mediate twice a day, follow the Five Mindfulness Trainings, and attend a weekly 2 hour Sangha meeting. I have attended a 5 day retreat at Blue Cliff Monastery, and try to live mindfully and in the present moment.
- I have taken a personal vow not to drink any liquor due to the misery and despair that alcohol causes around the world. I have no problem with friends and family drinking socially around me and I share such occasions with a nice cool drink of water.
- I continue to practice, and enjoy a 21 year old marriage to a wonderful, supportive and loving wife and to support my two boys as they transition into adulthood and learn to become self sustaining adults.
- I have come to terms with the strong (most likely) possibility that my 20 year career in IT will soon end in it's present form as my company is currently working on outsourcing my department.
- I have re-ordered the priorities in my life and because of this I realize that my job is not me, it is simply a job and so when it finally ends I will simply find an alternate job to provide enough income so that my family and I can continue to live our lives and all the activities that we enjoy daily.
With all these changes I now have more energy than ever before, I'm in the best shape to date, have slimmed down to the same weight and waist size that I was in my college days and do more in any given day that I had done in a whole week before I decide to "eat, pray and love".
I went to see the movie with my wife and we both enjoyed it a lot. Sure it's a Hollywood movie, and it is somewhat of a travelogue but it is also geared to the movie-going audiences who are used to superficial, mindless and numbing entertainment.
And so without spending $50,000, without reaching the far corners of the earth and with the support of my wonderful wife I now cook and eat foods from around the world (mediterranean, asian,spanish etc), practice the teachings of the Buddha (India) through the teachings of a Vietnamese Zen monk, and love both my wife and myself more than I ever have... so I guess, I have learned to "eat, pray and love" with mindfulness and gratefulness for all that life has to offer.
The whole premise is insane. The plot is essentially the trip she took with the advance she received to write the book, so it's really a glorified travelogue about one self-absorbed, whiny author. I don't understand why people love this book. I understand why Oprah loves it, because she's ridiculously rich. But why so many people love it is truly beyond me.
I see what you are saying, and I agree to a degree. I enjoyed the story\book\movie but did not Love it.
I also think that in today's society where everyone wants a "diet pill" to fix all things in life rather than doing the work... this is as far as Hollywood and novels can get to soul searching if the book\story\movie is to have some financial success.
I guess that is why I posted my previous rambling because if one is willing to do "the work" one can find the peace and joy of life and what cultures around the world can teach us within the confines of our day to day life.
On the other hand, at least this woman took the initiative to travel abroad, to give to herself, and to do some inner search to find some degree of happiness and peace in her life. I suspect\hope that the real story & experience is much much deeper than the book.
She now has a store in NY, where she sells stuff from around the world that she and her husband collected. I will probably visit the store at some point when we go visit our dear friends who live close to it. It will be interesting to meet the author, and see\get a feel for what she is really like. We'll see...
I did come away with one quotation from the book that hit me between the eyes:
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment."
I liked that one.....
dunno, just me thoughts!
you don't watch movies or TV???
is it because you don't like movies and tv series etc.
gotta love bitch magazine. i guess i will have to read the book because that article was pretty interesting (actually, someone gave me a copy as a gift a long time ago, just never got around to it). the only thing i really disagreed with was that Brazilians are in some way Sex and the City inspired anti-feminism brainwash. but that's a whole different topic...
i found this part interesting:
movies are like politicians. they tease with something interesting, while the whole time hiding crap behind their backs.
don't you think that you are missing some really good movie - like Inception etc.
Then we sat down to watch the most delightful movie. If I were younger I could eat my way through Italy as I did Mexico. I had once joined two different Hindu groups but I really wish that one of them had chanted like they did in this movie. And then there was Bali. What I liked most about Bali was the house that the old man lived in.
I didn't get caught up in the romance as much as I did in seeing the countries and wishing I were young enough and had the money to travel again. I think I would have rather seen her eat her way through India and Bali. Lol.
I liked your story very much, and I agree. The movie appears too grand. But you have to do something get people's attention. Maybe the good that will come out of this movie that it will inspire people to do some introspection.
I'm very content with my life and it didn't take $50,000 or any travelling either. I just had to be honest with myself and work at it.
I haven't seen the film as yet, hasn't been screened here in Australia. Enjoyed reading the book, in the way I enjoy to read a good story -novel/autobiography/biography ... escape for a few hours and become totally engrossed and distracted by the text from start to finish - lol
I don't think I would care for the sequel. And actually add shopping and site seeing to those trips, and I would be happy.
Thao it had the kinda ending you like
I think what drew me to the book was that she decided to make a change in her life, internally, and because of that journey I so felt I closely related to her. I've been doing a bit of soul searching/changing myself and her book was inspirational to me.
Not enough to want to leave my husband and travel the world (although, a paid trip to find myself does sound kinda nice!) but I did take away a few things from that book about slowing down and listening to myself more.
I've got to agree with you, TB (hmm, that may be an unfortunate abbreviation!). I gave up watching TV altogether years ago as I couldn't take the crap that spewed forth on it and especially I couldn't stand watching anything with commercials. I sometimes housesat for a friend who traveled on business a lot, and she had cable with all the channels (free, as she worked for the cable company). I would literally be amazed that I could go through over 100 channels and not find one thing worth watching! Even channels like the History Channel, which I used to enjoy, had descended to meaningless pap like UFOs and such that appeal to a large audience but have absolutely nothing at all remotely to do with history. So I just stopped watching, and quite frankly I don't miss it the least little bit.
Same for movies in general, especially the Hollywood drek that the studios churn out, heavy on CGI and loud noise, totally devoid of any ability to actually tell a story. I did go see Inception because I thought Memento was really good (though the actual storyline was kind of stupid), but I had the same problem with Inception, namely that the idea was very clever and even thought provoking but the story line again was very pedestrian. I do go for indie movies though. I just saw Winter's Bone, a pretty bleak story about meth cookers in Missouri, which was excellent. Movies like that really show samsara for what it is - shit (despite the overly happy ending in Winter's Bone)! But movies made simply for entertainment (i.e. to make the studios rich) hold absolutely no interest for me. I've renounced being a Pavlovian dog. :crazy:
Palzang
Very inspiring Olarte, you have a great attitude. I wonder do you know Jeff Benoit. He is my wife's cousin from Connecticut and attends retreats at Blue Cliff with his family.
Thanks Chanratt, sorry for the lete reply. Yes most times I do try to have a good attitude and it seems to work for me.
Although lately Iv'e felt a bit frustrated on several fronts. Still I have enough trust (I rather not use the word faith
And so I have not been around much on this board and hence my late reply. But now things are starting to be back to normal mainly because I'm trying to be consistent with my routine and practice of meditation, exercise, healthy eating, and study of classical guitar.
As for Jeff, no I don't know him by name as I only attended the one retreat so far and there were a few hundered people in attendance.
Blue Cliff is a nice environment and only about a 4 hour drive from Mass, so I'm sure I'll be going there again within the next year.
Ivan
It's the movies. Sorry, but what a strange thought to leave the movies with.
I loved the movie and recommended it to family. But then, as bad as I am, I'm no movie snob. I ask only one thing from a movie: to be transported out of my skin for 90 minutes (or less or more) without the need to take a bunch of nerve pills to keep me in my seat.
I don't ask to compose, cut, or direct movies, but when somebody essentially splices three different movies together I am left, well, impressed.
anyone remember when mtv was real legit music television? What is this 16 and pregnant crap? or the real life... blah blah. I too have almost given up television.
Laney Ray
www.laneyray.org