Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love and I have a love/hate relationship. I never read the book when it came out. I would pass right by on it on a weekly basis in the NYT's Book Review. Wasn't for me. Then the author was everywhere in the press and TV. Then she was on Oprah and that clinched for me. (You know, everything she touches turns to GOLD!) So, in an attempt to get up to speed quickly, I listened to the audiobook. It is read by the author and there was something about her voice and they way she would pronounce the foreign terms in the perfect accent (a la Alex Trebek). The story however, I felt was contrived. Especially the Eat section. It was almost as though she forced herself to do things so that she could write about them. And, then I learned that she had pitched the concept to a publisher prior to her trip and received an upfront bonus for it. I felt cheated.

I finished the book and started a small obsession with meditation. I downloaded all kinds of apps and guides from iTunes. I tried it. I experienced all the things everyone says they experience. Instead of emptying my thoughts or concentrating, I would make a grocery list or to do list or fall asleep. I was a spiritual failure. Then the movie came out and everywhere I went I saw Julia's wide, toothy grin. I was annoyed. Then the movie became available for rent. Thanks to Netflix I was already paying a monthly fee for unlimited rentals, so I put it on the top of my queue. And, then it showed up in my mailbox one day. I filed it with the rest of the mail and kinda ignored it. Then one day I had a hole in my day. No husband, dog or baby. No laundry or grocery shopping. No nothing. So, I put it in. And watched it. I was completely swept up in it. I thought I could do anything. I thought I could meditate and eat and travel and live in hovels. I thought I was Julia Roberts. And, then I looked in the mirror. Oh, that damn mirror. I felt cheated all over again. And, that's why we have a love hate relationship.