The seeds of depression and despair hold a magical
quality, and if they are properly attended, they are likely to yield
the most
fruitful of plants. Given the choice
though, and especially given the situation, few are likely to cultivate their
garden, leaving it to wither instead.
Occasionally, however, an inspiring transformation occurs, one that can
nudge all of us that are privy to it; one that can make all of us ask: “What
can I do to improve my own life?”
Such
is the case with journalist and biographer Elizabeth Gilbert’s newest piece of
work, Eat, Pray, Love, a memoir set
against the backdrop of Gilbert’s life as she attempts to recover from a
volatile divorce, a failed rebound romance, and a depression so intense that
she finds herself contemplating suicide and salvaging her existence through
anti-depressants. Within this context, a
synchronicity of events leads her to plan a trip to the three “I’s:” Italy, India,
and Indonesia
in order to reclaim herself and control over her life. She initially chooses Italy from the
simple desire to learn Italian. Once there,
however, Gilbert devotes herself whole-heartedly to the task at hand:
pleasure. Consuming frightening amounts of pasta, pizza
- you can actually taste the pizza in Naples -
and gelato (and not surprisingly going up several jean sizes by the end of her
four months there), Gilbert gives in to almost everything that Rome has to offer, while throwing herself
into the language and its culture.
From Italy, Gilbert heads to the
austerity of the Indian countryside and an Ashram outside of a small village,
led by a guru of somewhat mythical proportions.
Like a chameleon, Gilbert sheds the excesses and pounds of Rome as she settles into
vegetarian simplicity and early morning meditations. Nevertheless, while Gilbert shifts into the
lifestyle of the devotees, her
spiritual transformation is anything but easy.
Ultimately, Gilbert
extends her stay in the Ashram at the expense of traveling around the country,
and despite her deep resistance to some of the traditions that are practiced
there, she succeeds in developing her spiritual connection before heading off
to Indonesia. While training under a Balinese medicine man,
she learns Indonesian meditation techniques and is witness to a variety of
healing techniques both through him and another healer that she befriends. She finds, though, that the balance she was
hoping to attain in Bali is already in place by the time she arrives, and
because of this, it is during this time that she is able to actually live the
spiritual practices that she learned in India while experiencing the pleasure (romance
and love, in particular) that she had been longing to attain.