Dearest Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth

What I cannot seem to stop thinking about is how after all the dreaming you have as a child, that you don't want the "Trophy Wife" life. You say that you are supposed to want a baby and a big country home and a homecooked meal that you prepared all day just waiting for your husband to come home and for your big happy family home filled with children is the happiest place on Earth. You don't want to be pregnant, you dont want to be a mom. It is funny how the idealistic American dream is to find the absolute love of your life, get married at the gorgerous church and the white dress and then all the kids and the amazing career you give up to raise your family. Your career as a writer means that much to you for you to give that up. The wise words of your friend about "Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really neeed to be certain it's what you want be fore you commit." (Gilbert, 10).
What makes you one day say that you don't want what is expected of you? Do you feel that your life was going just fine anyways, and why would you dare put a tailspin on it? Or would would you be afraid that a baby would not bring your relationship with your husband to a closer point but make him push farther away? Why when you realize that you don't want what is expected of you do you want to just drop everything and travel across the world?
I hope that by reading on I can get more into your head, and farther into your heart, and your quest to get your spritual ducks in a row ;]

-C

How To [try?] To Appeal Emotionally

(1) "Of course, I've had a lot of time to formulate my opinions about divinity since that night on the bathroom floor when I first spoke to God directly for the first time." (Gilbert, 15). This is really important to her emotionally, because this is during her emotional breakdown. She starts to pray, not only in English but in many other language, which she says is just to get her point across [to God] but I think it's a lot deeper than that, it is such a quest inner peace.

(2) "We'd been fighting and crying, and we were weary in that way that only a couple whose marriage is collapsing can be weary. We had the eyes of refugees." (Gilbert, 12) I would definately say that this is a big emotional appeal because the whole reason she even considers this spiritual quest is because the whole thing with her husband.

(3) "This was what my voice would sound like if I'd only ever experienced love and certainty in my life." (Gilbert, 16). I really liked this and it did appeal emotionally. It made me thing about how when I'm upset, and I think about all these crazy things that only once my vision is cleared that I acutally think "hey, where did that voice come from. I don't recognize it...it's so...rational." ;)

-c

The Beginning of a Soul Search

Some Vocabulary:

I found my definitions on www.dictionary.com

japa malas(Gilbert,1): Japa mala is a string of beads to assit Hindus and Buddhists in staying focused during prayer. It is used by holding the string of beads in one hand and with the other hand, touches one bead at a time. The beads are symbolic for each time a mantra is said. Mantra is to be 108 times, and there are 108 beads. The 109th bead is to remind not to forget to thank your teachers. [I thought that was pretty cool. This is where other european religions got the idea of a rosary.]

Ambivalent (Gilbert, 11): Uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow


I haven't gotten as far as really thinking about the emotional appeals yet so I will come back to that.

I think the most significant quote so far is:
"In the end, what I have come to belive about God is simple. It' like this--I used to have this really great dog. She came from the pound. She was a mixture of about ten different breeds, but seemed to have inherited the finest features of them all. She was brown. When people asked 'What kind of dog is that?' I would always give the same answer: 'She's a brown dog.' Similarily, when the question is raised, "What kind of God do you believe in?' my answer is easy: 'I belive in a magnificent God." (Gilbert 14)
The significance of this quote is that her whole quest involves rediscovering the aspects of her faith. Gilbert talks about how she does't want to offend anyone by using the letters G-O-D, in that order. She knows of a superior being, but she does not say it is necessarily Jesus Christ, Buddah, Jehovah, Allah, Shiva Braham, Vishnu or Zeus.

The theme of this memoir is how to rediscover yorself and just make sure that your emotional and spiritual ducks are in a row. :)

Eat Pray Love

The book I have chosen to read for our outside reading project is Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
From reading the back of the book, my understanding is that Elizabeth Gilbert is in her thirties and after her divorce, she sets out to find herself through travels to India (to develp devotion), Italy (to develop pleasure) and Bali Indonesia to find harmony between enjoyment and transecendence.

So far its awesome!!

First Post

This weekend, I am going to get my memoir. I'm thinking something like Wasted, or the one about the wife of a CIA Agent.