Eat, Pray, Love

Imagine that your whole world is tumbling down. Despite your happy home, happy husband, and happy job, you're completely depressed and distraught. Nothing makes you cheery, and no matter how your day turns out, you're always stuck on the bathroom floor, crying by nighttime. Try as you might, your life doesn't get any happier, neither does your love life. Soon, your husband becomes your ex-husband, you quit your job, and you set out on a journey of self-discovery.

Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love tells this exact story. In her early thirties, Liz leaves everything behind to find herself again in Italy, India, and Indonesia.

First, Liz sets out to live in Italy for four months. She always longed to learn the beautiful Italian language, and what better way to learn than to live there. During her first night in Europe she waits for the tears to come at night, but they never do. She wonders if this was all she needed all along.

With classes at the Leonardo da Vinci Academy of Language Studies, Liz meets many more travelers who have all left their lives to learn the smooth, exquisite Italian language just like her. Although she isn't the most expert traveler in the world, she sure knows how to eat delicious food and make new friends, and that's just what she does in Italy.

Next, she's off to spend four months in an Ashram in India. After discovering the magic of gurus, Liz wants to be more like them and find enlightenment through meditation and prayer. Soon she finds that this is easier said than done.

In order to meditate, one must sit completely still in a dark cave for an hour. Liz, being the busy-body that she is, simply can't do such a motionless task. On top of that, all the seekers of enlightenment must first recite a song that has one too many verses in it. This has to be done every day before meditation, which Liz can't stand, so she lets her mind wander instead.

On the bright side, she's lost all the weight she gained in Italy, since everyone in India eats healthy, light vegetables. While she rides her journey towards enlightenment like a roller coaster, Liz wonders if she'll ever be able to reach God.

Finally, the last stop takes her to live in Indonesia where she hopes to take in some wisdom from the medicine man, Ketut Liyer, and to find balance. She spends her mornings in meditation, her afternoons with Ketut, and her evenings just relaxing in the little cottage she found for herself out in the country.

This is the first time on her journey that she actually allows herself to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery around her. She ends up meeting Wayan, a Balinese healer, who becomes her best friend in Indonesia. They talk about all kinds of things, including love. Through a friend of Wayan's, Liz is introduced to the lovely Brazilian Felipe.

Eat, Pray, Love is a most ingenious autobiography full of humor, wit, and self-healing. This creatively written book is truly inspiring and describes an incredible journey of rediscovering one's true self. Through lots of eating, praying, and loving, Liz Gilbert finds exactly what she was looking for all along.