#4 It is Hard to Pray

As the title states "It is hard to pray." For some of us it comes easier to others but this is NOT the case for Liz Gilbert. She decided to spend four of her year long journey in an Ashram in India after she had heard a Guru speak in New York City. She was fascinated by the work and teachings and quickly found herself in the foreign country where she struggled to "fit in." Everyone around her seemed to effortlessly praying and meditating during the hour’s long sessions, clearing their minds.
What was so surprising to me was how open she was about her struggle with the activity. Most people would not want to be so forward about a concept which in theory sounds so simple. After weeks and weeks of questioning her capabilities and practicing, she finally was able to become successful at something that had become her life.
I feel like it is extremely difficult for one to admit their faults but Liz Gilbert seems to do so both eagerly and sarcastically. This surprising attitude provides the reader with an insight and a way to relate that is hard to come by.

If you want to learn more about praying/meditation which is what Gilbert does at the Ashram I found this website helpful in understanding the history and purpose of this ancient art.
http://www.how-to-meditate.org/why-learn-to-meditate.htm/

#17 Location, Location, Location

The book takes place in three different settings consisting of Italy, India and Indonesia. These are key elements to the progression of the author, Liz Gilbert's, life. First, in Italy, she retains residence in the city where she is accessible to a majority of different aspects of the Italian culture. She does this by taking classes of the language, eating all around the city, and taking in the sights of local and far destinations all across the country. She gained pounds of joy and happiness which she had lost over the past three years due to divorce. Next she moves to India to stay in an Ashram where she seeks the guidance of prayer to restore her faith. The time she spends here provides a period of reflection that she needed to help heal completely. Finally she arrives in Indonesia where she learns to love others again. This year dedicated to self exploration which takes place in three distinct locations, proves that you just need to take the time to figure out who you are and what you want in order to have an appreciation for the world around you.

#14 Quote

"Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment, you recognized yourself as a friend."
Liz Gilbert constantly remembers the time she found herself in a deep place of depression. This constant reminder that you always have a friend with you provides the author with someone she is able to rely on whenever she needs a friend. After her divorce and the end of another relationship she battles depression which is a tough fight. After getting the help she needed she embarks on a trip of self exploration. During times throughout the trip, but specifically in the beginning she was reminded of dark days. This was due to the fact that she was in a foreign country that spoke a different language and was there by herself. This is important to the story because throughout the novel she is able to relate back to this specific moment when she came to this realization. At these times he thought back to the time where she was able to pick herself up and call on herself to be a friend. I think that this is something that everyone is able to relate to. Even if it was just once in a person’s life he or she needed to rely on themselves. It is very important, as Gilbert points out, that we recognize ourselves as a friend that is there through the good times and the bad.

#12 Divorce

Author Liz Gilbert explains in detail the demise of her relationship with her husband. After countless nights of trying to pick herself of the cold bathroom floor she finally finds the strength she needed to end the unhappy relationship. This occurred in her early thirties when her friends were all settling down and having families. Gilbert realized that she did not want the big house in the suburbs that surrounded her or young children in her life. In an interview with Liz Gilbert she states that

"When modern American women make the deliberate choice not to have children they are still called upon to defend that choice, in a culture where motherhood is still regarded as the natural evolution of a woman’s life.Reality has taught us that no woman can build an honest life without sacrificing something along the way. Deciding what will be sacrificed is not easy. But the good news is this: increasingly, that decision is ours."
(http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=1405)

This is a great response that represents her view point on the matter and helps define the reasons for it. Coming to this realization after a major period of extreme self exploration is something that she is all too happy to discuss in the book. She feels that it is vital in understanding one reason that is a purpose for her journey.
Although she is none too shy to discuss the ending of her marriage she states that she will not discuss the exact events or reasons for it. For one reason I think that she does this because it is something that is extremely personal that can only be fully understood between two people. Also I believe she does not share it because maybe there was not just one specific event or conversation that occurred that sparked the end of their marriage. For whatever reason I believe that this loss of information is not important to the full understanding of the story making it not extremely relevant to the stories progress.

#10 Live It

In this Chapter the author is talking about a box of books that she had shipped to herself from the United States to Italy. Over two months had passed since she sent the box and without receiving anything she makes an attempt at locating them with little success. She loaded books such as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and other various books on Italy, thinking that she would read these to understand the city in which she was now living. She comes to the realization that maybe it was better off not receiving the books and that to really learn about something is to experience it. This chapter I could really relate to. I always have believed that to understand and appreciate something, you must live it. I find that for me specifically I am able to better understand something when I am immersed into it. For example, when I went abroad recently to England I took tours of historic places which I had heard and read about prior to going. After attending the places I had learned countless facts about I obtained a greater appreciation for them. Hearing personally stories from people who worked there and seeing things first hand I was able to relate to things that were hundreds of years older than me. What was ironic to me about the chapter was that she planned on reading the books about Italy, while in Italy. By just opening her front door and taking in the sights and sounds of the country she was able to obtain a greater understanding of Italy.

Thesis

Che did not know what he wanted to become but in fact became the person that he did through different experiences and hardships that occurred in his life.

Do Now

Che describes the process in which he and Alberto got things from people whether it be food or shelter. Do you have your own version of this technique for certain purposes? Does it always seem to work just like it does for Che and Alberto?

I chose to ask about this do now because I was surprised at how they had comprised their own little way of doing things, almost as if it were a script. I wanted to know if anyone else also had any similar ways of doing things and when they use it.