I devoured the book Eat, Pray, Love. The movie, "Eat, Pray, Love" was tough to swallow. I read the book about six months ago towards the end of challenging phase of my life. Like the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, I had gone through a divorce, not nearly as painful as hers, but like her Brazilian love interest (played by the beautiful Javier Bardem) says, "hearts were broken, so it is the same". I felt like the movie didn't measure up to Gilbert's real life story. So for anyone who goes to see the movie, I highly recommend reading the book in addition. This woman is considered one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, and the movie felt like I was watching Julia Roberts on vacation. I'm a big fan of Julia Roberts, so I don't blame her. It's nearly impossible to reinvent Gilbert's adventure and recapture those precious moments of her real life.
A few months ago,I traveled to Virginia to hear an interview with Gilbert. Her interview brought together women (and some men) of all ages, races, religions, socio-economic backgrounds and more. I was amazed and surprised at how many amazing women I met that night- writers, business women, dancers, actors, stay-at-home moms, who were brought together because they were not only inspired, but life-changed by Gilbert. I overheard one woman who walked up to Gilbert crying, mumbling details of failed marriages and painful divorces. And Gilbert embraced this woman like she was comforting her sister, so personal and heartfelt. One woman even admired her necklace and Gilbert responded, " It's yours". She then took off her necklace and gave it to this woman she barely knew. This is the Gilbert I met, the person I read about, not Hollywood's version. So if you want to get the true Gilbert, find out where she speaks next, google her, watch her Ted talk http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html. This woman is brilliant, confident, and continues to inspire many....This is the real Eat, Pray, Love.
