Elizabeth Gilbert's Blog, page 79
March 30, 2014
Here’s a cool new game…can anyone guess the location?
Here's a cool new game…can anyone guess the location?
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Where do you think this is? 
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THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS in Kerala, India — one of my favorite places…
THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS in Kerala, India — one of my favorite places…
Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert
Proud copy of SOAT with a hot cup of Chai, from Kerala, India!! Bought this for my daughter who loves Botany, and for myself because I love your work which is seeped in reality, however resonating spirituality…..Regards to you, and a lot of good wishes…..Come over to our part of the world too…..
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March 29, 2014
BOOK OF THE DAY: “The Little Locksmith”, by Katharine Butler Hathaway. Dear On…
BOOK OF THE DAY:
"The Little Locksmith", by Katharine Butler Hathaway.
Dear Ones –
Please read this luminous, intelligent memoir by a forgotten genius of a woman. Originally published in 1943, this remarkable work of spiritual, emotional and artistic exploration has come into print again recently, thanks to the good folks at The Feminist Press.
My friend, the writer Darcey Steinke, recommended it to me, and I have fallen in love with every page.
Katharine Butler Hathaway was born in 1890 to an affluent Massachusetts family. She was afflicted with tuberculosis of the spine as a child, and spent her entire childhood confined to her bedroom, pinned down to a board (with her head and neck held in place by weights.) It was the hope of her doctors that this restriction would cause her spine to grow straight. But the treatment didn't work, and she was left both stunted and hunchbacked, never growing past the height of a ten year old child.
But what did happen in those isolated years of stillness and restriction was the evolution of a most extraordinary mind and imagination. Staggeringly, Hathaway tells the tale here of a happy childhood — one rich with limitless invention. Later, when she leaves her small room and enters the world, she suffers humiliation and isolation, but in the middle of her life she embarks on a brave and fantastic story: She buys a giant house, and (despite the approbation of her family and community) moves into it alone, in order to become an autonomous artist at last.
And I must tell you — the story of this woman buying her own sanctuary reads like one of the great adventure stories of all time.
I highlighted dozens of sections of this book, but here is the phrase that moved me the most, when Hathaway discusses her decision to move away from home (and from the care of her mother and nurses) in order to live alone:
"I discovered that my decision was only a question of whether I preferred to be governed by fear or by a creative feeling, and although I was very frightened, I knew I could not choose fear. The panic terrors that came in the night might scare me half to death, but I would never let them decide things for me. Then and there I invented this rule for myself to be applied to every decision I might have to make in the future. I would sort out all the arguments and see which belonged to fear, and which to creativeness, and other things being equal, I would make the decisions which had the larger number of creative reasons on its side. I think it must be a rule something like this that makes jonquils and crocuses come pushing through cold mud."
Oh, friends. I would love to buy this book for you, but I can't figure out how to buy it for everyone, so all I can do is implore you to get it for yourself.
And to always, always, always choose creativity over fear.
Heart,
LG
The Little Locksmith
www.goodreads.com
The Little Locksmith, Katharine Butler Hathaway's luminous memoir of disability, faith, and transformation, is a critically acclaimed but…
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Get started!
Get started!
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March 28, 2014
I saw this on the wall of a museum in Wellington, New Zealand the other day, and…
I saw this on the wall of a museum in Wellington, New Zealand the other day, and had to grab a photo of it.
What does this mean to you? Whose vision do you try to borrow, when you need to see the world differently?
For me, lately it's been — who seems to see things (and, more importantly, people) with the compassion, perspective and wit that I dearly long for — and strive for — in myself…
Curious to hear your answers!
LG
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COME SEE US IN BROOKLYN! Hello my dears! My wonderful friend Rayya Elias has h…
COME SEE US IN BROOKLYN!
Hello my dears!
My wonderful friend has her terrific memoir HARLEY LOCO coming out in paperback this week! For those of you who haven't read it yet…READ IT. It's crazy good, and yours truly wrote the introduction.
Also, Rayya and I are doing an event together in Brooklyn on April 2nd, at the Powerhouse Arena (in DUMBO) at 7pm…won't you come?
Here's a link:
Laughter, tears and big fat love are on the agenda for the evening — if past such evenings are any indication.
And we will both be signing books!
Come hang out with us!
BROOKLYN!
LG
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March 27, 2014
“I taught her to unlearn the lesson of obedience…” Dear Ones – Here is the p…
"I taught her to unlearn the lesson of obedience…"
Dear Ones –
Here is the powerful, inspiring TED speech I was telling you about the other day.
This is Ziauddin Yousafzai — father of brave young Malala Yousafzai — talking about how he raised his daughter to be educated, fearless and dignified, and how he empowered her to defy the Taliban and the oppression of tribal, patriarchal society.
I wept openly last week in the audience while Yousafzai gave this speech, and it's my joy to be able to share it with you now.
I love this man, I love this family.
Onward, Onward, Onward,
LG
Elizabeth Gilbert - The Official Website | ElizabethGilbert.com.
Ever get that feeling you’ve completely transformed your life, but other people…
Ever get that feeling you've completely transformed your life, but other people can't seem to recognize it yet?
I love this cartoon…thank you for sharing it, Bridget!
xo
LG
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March 26, 2014
HUGE NEWS!!! Dear Ones – Guess what I’m doing this autumn? I’m going on a spea…
HUGE NEWS!!!
Dear Ones -
Guess what I'm doing this autumn? I'm going on a speaking tour with OPRAH!
Eight cities, eight weekends, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Come see us?
Join Oprah and (holy cow) me and her handpicked "life trailblazers" in a live, transformational weekend event: http://ift.tt/1g0YMJl, coming to eight cities this fall! For tour dates and cities visit 
Elizabeth Gilbert - The Official Website | ElizabethGilbert.com.
HAPPY READING! :) LG
HAPPY READING!
LG
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