Italy=Indulgence[post A]

Definitions from Dictionary.com

Dilettante [Gilbert, 73]: A person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, esp. in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.

Chakra [Gilbert, 49]: Yoga

Emotional Appeals:

Here, Liz is keeping a journal, where she talks to herself. It may sound silly but it works for her. She gets kind of schizo and talks about how Depression and Loneliness found her in Italy.
"In response, somewhere from within me, rises a now-familiar presence, offering me all the certainties I have always wished another person would say to me when I was troubled. This is what I find myself writing to myself on the page.
'I'm here. I love you. I don't care if you need to stay up crying all night long will stay with you. If you need the medication again, go ahead and take it-I will lve you through that, as well. If you don't need the medication, I will love you, too There's nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die, and after your death, I will still protect you. I am stronger than Depression and I am braver than Loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me." [Gilbert, 55] This is a huge emotional appeal. Anyone would love to be told this when they are having a struggle and they feel weak. I think that the most imporant--and difficult thing to do--is to give yourself your love.

"In return, Giovanni told me that empathizing Italians say 'L'ho provato sulla mia pelle', which means 'I have experienced that on my own skin'. Meaning, I have also been burned or scarred i this way, and I know exactly what you're going through."[Gilbert, 71]. I really liked this Italian expression. I thought to myself that it is a lot more of an interesting way of saying "I have experiencd that." I feel like it has more of a personal connection.

"My sister is not a religious person. Nobody in my family really is. (I've taken to calling myself the "white sheep" of the family.) My spiritual investigations interest my sister mostly from a point of intellectual curiosity. 'I think that kind of faith is so beautiful,' she whispers to me in the church, 'but I can't do it, I just can't..." [Gilbert, 90] How many people acutally consider themselves "white sheep"? All families have their differences about religion. Some choose to take it more seriously than others. I wonder, however, what makes faith beautiful? Is it the location? Or the belief in a superior being that is invisible to the eye but vivid to the mind?

I still am keeping the same theme as I believed before, but it's also about making onself happy, for nobody else but you.

-C