Elizabeth Gilbert's Blog, page 60
June 18, 2014
A friend of this page named Katie sent this quote to me yesterday, and it struck…
A friend of this page named Katie sent this quote to me yesterday, and it struck me so hard, it made me catch my breath for a moment.
Indeed, try as we might (try as I HAVE) you cannot carry somebody to the mountaintop without their own assistance or participation.
I am particularly guilty of attempting to do this at times (OK, many times) and it has always ended in tears and resentment — and usually ends in a destroyed relationship.
Or, as another wise friend of mine has been trying to remind me for years, "You cannot put another person on their path for them. You can love them. You can encourage them. You can open some doors for them. You can even point the way. But eventually people have to get on their own paths by themselves."
These are hard words to believe sometimes, when all you want to do is help someone, and to usher her forward in life. But you must examine your motives very carefully as you set out to reconstruct or rescue an adult human. Be careful of your own arrogance, grandiosity, and self-righteousness, even if they are disguised as charitable impulses. (I am speaking to myself here, as much as to you all.)
To try to carry someone singlehandedly into a new life implies that you know what's best for that person…when in fact, very likely, you do not. You cannot. What's more, it is not your place to fully solve her life on her behalf; that duty (and its rewards) belong to her and to her alone. Or to him. Or to them. Or to us.
Love the people you love. Love them with all your heart. Love them like a hurricane. Help them in reasonable ways. But give them credit for their own power — however they may use it. And let them walk their own journey. Otherwise, their lives will never be their own…
And don't you dare miss your own mountaintop because you're dragging along an unwilling passenger!
ONWARD,
LG
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June 17, 2014
ONE MORE WEEK…! In just seven lovely days the beautiful new paperback edition…
ONE MORE WEEK…!
In just seven lovely days the beautiful new paperback edition of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS will be available, dear ones.
Thus, I shall be setting off on a book tour!
Click here for details, and come see me if you can:
Elizabeth Gilbert - The Official Website | ElizabethGilbert.com.
“Jim loved your card so much, he ate it.” A friend of this page named Rowan jus…
"Jim loved your card so much, he ate it."
A friend of this page named Rowan just shared this wonderful excerpt from an interview with Maurice Sendak…
I thought you all might enjoy this, further to our discussion this morning about whether you are all book devourers, or book preservers!
Heart,
LG
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QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are you a book-devourer, or a book-preserver? OK, I know y…
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are you a book-devourer, or a book-preserver?
OK, I know you all love books. But my question today is – HOW do you love them? Ravenously, or tenderly? Do you physically devour them, or do you treat them like holy icons? Do you bend the pages and scribble notes in the margins, and place them face-down on the floor, and use them for a door jam? Or do you wrap them in mylar and keep them away from direct light, humidity, and your cup of coffee? Are there crumbs in your books, or could you eat off them (except that you wouldn't?)
I ask because sometimes I'll be doing a book signing and someone will come up with a battered, tattered copy of EAT PRAY LOVE for me to sign (something that looks like it's been to the beach, dropped in a bathtub, chewed on by a puppy, and had red wine spilled on it) and they will apologize for the shabby condition of the volume. As if I would be angry! But I think it's wonderful. I always say the same thing: "This book looks very well-loved."
I also think it's wonderful, though, when people present me with a book to sign that looks as though it's being preserved for the Library of Congress — practically handled with white gloves. I say the same thing in that case: "This book looks very well-loved."
So many ways to show love…
I myself am a book devourer. I love my collection of books but I don't fetishize them. I think they can stand up to some rough treatment, because I think books like to be tussled around a bit — like a lover in the bedsheets. I'll eat over a book, take it out in the rain, fill the margins with exclamation points (when I really love the content), leave it in the yard, lend it out to never be returned. I'm a book monster. I adore books too passionately to treat them gently.
Yet I have friends who, when they drop a book, will tenderly pick it up and kiss it, as if it were a baby. This, too, is love.
How about you? What's your style?
Happy reading,
LG
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June 16, 2014
Oh. My. God. I’ve just been alerted to something very important. Dolce & Gabba…
Oh. My. God.
I've just been alerted to something very important.
Dolce & Gabbana apparently designed the uniforms and travel wardrobes for the Italian World Cup team.
Including these actual suits, shown on these actual Italian players.
I will try to hold myself together here, since I am a happily married middle-aged woman, and a respectable citizen.
HOWEVER.
If you will please excuse me, I simply must say it: This photograph is the happily married middle-aged woman's equivalent of the entire Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
You're welcome,
LG
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COURAGE IS JUST DREAMS WITH SHOES ON… A friend of this page shared this the o…
COURAGE IS JUST DREAMS WITH SHOES ON…
A friend of this page shared this the other day, and I love it.
Put your shoes on, my friends, and go after it!
LG
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SONO GRATA! Happiness is a gorgeous new Italian translation of THE SIGNATURE OF…
SONO GRATA!
Happiness is a gorgeous new Italian translation of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS.
At last, the novel is available in fine librerie Italiane everywhere!
Buon divertimento, amici!
(And BRAVISSIME to Maria Baiocchi e Anna Tagliavini, for the traduzione meravigliosa!)
Forza Italia!
LG
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June 15, 2014
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! Just wanted to send love out today to my wonderful dad (sho…
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
Just wanted to send love out today to my wonderful dad (shown here as my date at a fancy-schmanzy party in NYC a few years ago: The only picture you will ever see of Christmas Tree Farmer John Gilbert in a tuxedo).
And love to all the great fathers out there…and to all the great father figures, who have filled in the gaps over time, where dads might be missing.
I thought it might be fun to ask everyone to share the best advice they've ever gotten from either their father, or from a father-figure in their lives?
Here's mine, which my dad told me when I was 18, and about to go off to college:
"Don't go to college to get a career. Go to college to get an EDUCATION. It's your only chance to spend four years learning, just for the pleasure of expanding your mind. Don't waste that chance. Fill yourself with as much knowledge as possible, while you can. You will eventually find the right career for yourself, but a great education will always serve you, no matter what you do in life."
What's the best advice you ever got from a dad?
Lots of love,
LG
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Dear Ones — I thought you all might enjoy this post that I wrote today on the F…
Dear Ones —
I thought you all might enjoy this post that I wrote today on the Facebook page of , the import shop that I run with my husband…
Lots of love, and let it flow!
LG
Timeline Photos
LET IT FLOW!
Hello friends —
Those of you who have visited our shop know that people often spontaneously leave money and offerings on our outdoor statues. We always delight in this practice…we don't know where it began, but it almost seems to be an instinct. Our giant white 7000-pound marble Buddha is always covered with flowers and coins, which is so beautiful. The smaller Buddhas and our big Ganesh also get showered with coins. We know people also bring their prayers to these statues, and we are honored by it.
The other day, somebody came to Two Buttons and took all the money off all the statues. Some customers were terribly upset when they realized what had happened ("Somebody stole all the cash!") but we here at Two Buttons think it's lovely and perfect.
We see things differently.
We learned how to see things differently when we lived in Bali.
The Balinese have a practice of putting forward an offering, and then letting it go. You decorate your altar or a public shrine with the most gorgeous flower blossoms you can find, or you shower it with coins or jewelry, and then you walk away. Whatever happens next is none of your business. Once you release your prayers and offerings, they don't belong to you anymore: They belong to the universe. And whoever might come along and pick up your offering…well, that is clearly the person who needed it. Even if the person themselves THINKS they stole something, they didn't. They can't. You can't steal something that belongs to the universe. You can only receive it.
So it's all perfect.
It's all part of the big inhale and the big exhale.
We are just happy to have a place in this great circle of abundance at all!
Let it flow, and lots of love,
THE BUTTONS
It's a colorful and happy day in Frenchtown!
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SUNDAY MATINEE! Hello my lovelies! In less than two weeks THE SIGNATURE OF ALL…
SUNDAY MATINEE!
Hello my lovelies!
In less than two weeks THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS will be published in its gorgeous new paperback form — light, portable, perfect for beach reading!
Since I haven't shown the book trailer for SOAT for a while, I thought I would post it here today, for anyone who hasn't seen it. It's fun to watch because it includes footage of The Woodlands, the actual Philadelphia estate upon which I based Alma's fictitious home. (For instance, you can see the carriage house…and if you ever visit the actual Woodlands person, by the way, you can even see "the binding closet", ahem!)
So…you can click right here to watch the video:
Elizabeth Gilbert - The Official Website | ElizabethGilbert.com.
