Eat Pray Love

Yesterday I went and saw the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" with one of my good friends. She was the reason I read the book, and so it was extremely appropriate that I should see the movie with her. (Although I had many many hesitations about seeing this movie, since they cast Julia Roberts as Liz Gilbert...)

I remember it was a few months ago, just before my trip to Italy, that my friend and I were having dessert at Madeline's, and she told me I should buy this book and read it. I had been moping around for about half a year, and this friend was one of the only friends I would listen to when she gave me advice, partly because we had similar experiences. (All my other friends' efforts and kindness were often wasted on me. I dismiss whatever they said, because how could they understand what I was going through.)

So a few days later I bought the book, and it was one of the things I looked forward to in my day. Every day before bed I would share with Liz her experiences, and thoughts, and grief, and guilt, and healing. And I cried and laughed and laughed and cried, and wished I had Ms. Gilbert's gift of writing so honestly and with humor.

And I cried especially hard when I read her conversation with Richard from Texas in Chapter 48:

"... You're like a dog at the dump, baby- you're just lickin' at an empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. And if you're not careful, that can's gonna get stuck on your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it."

"But I love him."

"So love him."

"But I miss him."

"So miss him. Send him some love and light every time you think about him, and then drop it."

I am no longer the dog licking the empty tin can, but the movie used that last line 2 or 3 times, and each time I heard the lines delivered I felt tears well up in my eyes. But they were not sad tears, nor happy tears, but the huge emotion of remembering how I was moved by the wisdom of that statement, and marveling at how true it was.

And Julia Roberts was not half bad, although I can imagine if they cast somebody else, they might've bought a different angle to this movie. And the movie was not half bad either, although it only managed to capture a fraction of what was magical about the book, but that was all compensated by the appearance of Javier Bardem. (Or at least according to my friend.)

I enjoyed the scenes in Italy and Bali. Italy because every scene and street looked familiar like I had personally walked it. And Bali for all it's beauty, for it reminded me that there are still so many undiscovered corners of the Earth I'd like to see and visit.

On its own, the movie was not so great, I glanced at my watch more than a few times. But seeing the movie with my friend was meaningful to me because it reminded me of the book, and the book as a marker in my life. After the movie, I fondly thought of a certain someone, now 4000 miles away, now no longer a part of my life. And I smile when I miss him, and I send some love and light his way, and then I drop it.