
i missed the train by just a few minutes, leaving me with a good thirty minutes to enjoy the sights once again at penn station. hell of a day it was at work. no shitty day at work sounds better. after two years of feeling as though i am a slave for the corporate big wigs and am making no difference in the world (everyone's dream is to somehow make a difference...) and on top of it missing the train by just a few minutes, i'm tired. i'm tired of not loving what i do, or even having a passion for it. im' tired of living paycheck to paycheck with nothing to show or to remember of it. what does this have to do with eat pray love? it has everything to do with it.
i picked up a copy of eat pray love that night from the bookstore in penn station (yes there are book stores in penn station) and couldn't put it down until i had read every word on every page. eat pray love was the tale of a life i wished i had the cojones to live.
after realizing that she is ultimately lost in life the protagonist decides to set out on an adventure of self discovery taking her across the world and across all emotional boundaries. her goals:
1. learn italian in italy
2. find inner peace in india
3. learn how to balance earthly life and spiritual life in indonesia
i suggested to victoria for her to take a read also since we both compare war stories and egg each other on to quit our jobs and travel the world. in fact we even joke that we should just quit our jobs and instead write travel guides. point is- vic couldn't put the book down either.
we both agreed that this book is an interpretation or a version of our lives (or at least the first few chapters of unhappiness and unfulfilled dreams).
this book allowed me to live out my dreams through the characters if only for my three hour commute each day of reading. it made me remember that i choose the life i live and i have the ability to change it. the problem is i'm a coward. i don't have the courage to be so decisive and careless of social perceptions and opinions.
pick it up and see how it challenges the way you live your life.