I read the book “Eat Pray Love” several years ago over a long weekend spent breaking up (yet again) with my first childhood love. It was a long painful break up, one that I only recently over the course of the last two years or so really came to terms with. But the book was really wonderful at the time if only for the one line that really stuck with me from the “pray” section: You don’t always end up with your soul mate, sometimes you are thrown together to learn something and move on.
At the time I remember thinking ‘well, that may have been true for her but…’ Nonetheless it gave me comfort in the back of my mind. I knew at that moment no matter what happened I would be fine. Anyone who knows me well also knows I believe very strongly in soul mates and such. But I believe that throughout ones life we encounter numerous soul mates. It only makes sense that we all have multitudes of soul mates if you think of the amount of people you connect with in a lifetime and really anyone can be your soul mate. It is not exclusive to lovers and spouses but can be a parent from a past life who in this one becomes your best friend, etc. In the end I really loved the book. I could relate to Ms. Gilbert’s search because I had spent all of my twenties doing what she did in the scope of a year. I searched for answers in my travels abroad, I tried to figure out who I was, why I was and who I belonged with and why. I also searched for spiritual answers in hard to find places. I spent my very early twenties working with the American Indian Movement for the Western Shoshone in Nevada, living in a trailer, doing sweat lodges and ceremonies and riding horseback to bathe in the hot springs. I am still looking, listening and learning. So I never expected the film to live up to the book. That rarely happens and it’s a daunting task to try and fit in all those details into 120 minutes, especially in regard to someone else’s spiritual and emotional journey. But it was a good try. The landscapes are beautiful and the food sequences were shot nicely, I loved the food moments. Julia Roberts is always fun to watch and Javier Bardem and James Franco are ridiculously hot in the film. In the end it all falls short and flat but it is definitely worth seeing. I didn’t really appreciate the ending which seemed to contradict her search to begin with as she ends up finding happiness in a man rather than her own journey but it’s unrealistic to think any other ending could have been done or felt appropriate. It did get me thinking about a lot of things I haven’t thought of lately. How much I miss traveling, how much I still have to learn and grow. It also got me thinking about relationships and why they work… or don’t.
LA is filled with amazing women. Amazing single women. A lot of them are my friends. It’s interesting because most of the women (and men) I meet in LA are not only talented, smart and driven (no different from my friends on the other coast) but also really satisfied in their day to day lives by the work they do. Myself included. We all seem to be inspired by and happy with the professional choices we have made, the dreams we have followed and the paths we cut for ourselves. That said a lot of us find ourselves at a crossroads when it comes to romantic relationships. We all aspire to be with someone just as amazing, just as talented, driven, and caring while at the same time open to the fact that we may still have certain goals. And sometimes we still put those goals before the romantic relationships. It’s only in the last couple of years that I have finally begun to “settle down” a bit and put my personal life ahead of everything. My girlfriends and I joke about “importing” a man from one of the states in between (or maybe a county a few hours North or South?) because most of us realize we live in a bubble where women who would otherwise be devoured by men get somehow lost in the shuffle of …well, other circumstances. Smart, strong, successful women sometimes have a hard time finding a partner because there aren’t a lot of men out there who can not only handle us but also tame us a little. It may be a daunting task but one well worth the effort, I think.
I have put my career and work before my personal life for many years so I can relate and understand when someone else does the same. Anyway, we all know where this is going. Its not news. Nothing astounding. Just the reality of choosing a different path…
