RISE, RISE, RISE!
Dear Ones —
The second part of my Super Soul Sunday interview will be airing today at 11am EST on OWN-TV (or LIVESTREAMING on Oprah.com, and on the Super Soul Sunday Facebook page.)
See you there! (And I will be live-tweeting along with Oprah herself, using #supersoulsunday, from my Twitter account, which is Elizabeth Gilbert
Lastly, if anyone missed Part 1 of the interview, and wants to watch, here is the full episode, from last week:
https://ift.tt/1uVvabT
(The quote below comes from my interview last week.)
Lots of love, all!
Don't forget to rise,
LG
via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall
THE VOICE OF GRACE.
Dear Ones –
Here's the thing about our heads: They are sometimes madhouses filled with crazy, wild, competing voices.
We each spend our lives dealing with the imaginary internal family of identities that constitute "The Self".
We each have brave parts of ourselves, and terrified parts, and ashamed parts, and stubborn parts, and hopeful parts, and cynical parts, and ambitious parts, and self-destructive parts…and all of them have a voice. (And all of them USE that voice.)
Sometimes those voices fight. They fight for dominance over each other, and they fight for definition of The Self. It becomes a screaming match. Sometimes it's like a riot in the monkey house at the zoo up in there.
There came a time in my life when I looked at the insane internal monkey house that was my mind, and I asked, "Who's in charge here, anyhow?"
It didn't seem like anyone was in charge.
To be sure, there was a louder, bossier, more self-hating and self-judging voice within me who seemed to THINK she was in charge…or that she should be. This was the voice of supreme self-judgment. This is the voice that said, "Goddamn it, Liz — you have to do better. This is unacceptable behavior. Why can't you get your shit together? Why are you such a loser? Can't you see how much you're screwing up your life? AND ALL OF YOU OTHER CRAZY MONKEYS NEED TO SHUT UP AND LET ME TAKE CONTROL!!!!"
That voice had so much authority, because in a way she was right. (I did, without a doubt, need to get my shit together…right? And the crazy monkeys did need to shut up…right?)
So for years I thought that voice was my highest self and I listened to her…when in fact she was nothing but my high-and-mightiest self — and she did more harm to me than any of the other voices combined.
Because the problem with that voice is that she's aggressive, demanding, unforgiving, uncompassionate, and often cruel. She didn't make me a better person. She didn't fill me with light. She just made me feel more horrible about myself. And in that sense of shame and self-horror, darker impulses within me could always take over.
She made my life WORSE — darker and worse.
But in the course of my healing — through travel, prayer, meditation, therapy, self-kindness — I found an even higher voice within me.
That voice never says anything but, "You are loved."
That's the voice that's in charge of me now — above all the chaos and doubt.
That voice is Grace. Only when I found that voice within me, life began to improve. Only then, could I make the changes I needed to make, without beating myself half to death — without all the self-punishment and shame. Because that voice makes all the crazy monkeys (even the most aggressive and domineering one) lay down and go to sleep.
Because here's the only thing the crazy monkeys in the madhouse want to know: AM I LOVED?
What I want to tell you today is this: YES.
You are loved. Entirely. Even the dumbest parts of you — totally loved.
Because Grace ONLY ever says, "You are loved."
Any other voice you ever hear inside your head (especially the voice that is telling you what a failure and loser you are, and how you REALLY NEED TO GET IT TOGETHER)… that is not Grace.
A judgmental attack of any manner (upon you, or upon anyone else, or from anyone else) will never be Grace.
I was so happy to get to speak about this last weekend on Super Soul Sunday…and if you like you can watch the full episode here, if you like:
https://ift.tt/1uVvabT
And Part II of my Super Soul Sunday interview with Oprah will air tomorrow, 11am on OWN-TV (or LIVESTREAMED at Oprah.com, or on the Super Soul Sunday Facebook page.)
See you there!
Be kind to yourself in the meanwhile, OK?
Love,
LG
via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall
SOUL MATES!
Dear Ones — Here's a clip from my upcoming Super Soul Sunday appearance with Oprah, talking about my opinion on the subject of "soul mates" — their attractions and their misconceptions….hope you enjoy!
Tune in to watch the whole interview (Part 2) this Sunday at 11am on OWN-TV, or LIVESTREAMING worldwide on Oprah.com, or on the Super Soul Sunday Facebook page.
And I'll be live-tweeting the broadcast (along with Oprah herself) from my twitter handle, @GilbertLiz.
SEE YOU THERE!
LG
Elizabeth Gilbert, beautiful description of what a soul mate REALLY is. Super Soulers, don’t miss part 2 of our convo this Sunday!
via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall
MALALA!
In honor of the news that Malala Yousafzai has won the Nobel Prize for Peace (!!!) I wanted to repost this essay I wrote last March, after having watched her father, Ziauddin speak at the 2014 TED conference.
What an incredible family, and what beautiful news this is today.
Talk about freakin' Girl Power!
Anyhow, here goes:
March 18 2014
"UNLEARN THE LESSON OF OBEDIENCE."
Last night at the TED conference, I wept openly while listening to Ziauddin Yousafzai speak about his daughter, Malala.
You have have heard of Malala Yousafzai. She is the brave young Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for speaking up on behalf of education for girls.
Her father began his extraordinary speech by saying that in tribal and patriarchal societies, a man is known by his sons. "But I am one of the few fathers who is known by my daughter," he said. "And I am proud of that."
He spoke about how, in rural Pakistan, when a girl is born, it is never cause for celebration, but rather shame. As she grows up, she is taught only one virtue: Obedience.
Yousafzai refused to follow suit. He celebrated his daughter from the day she was born, and wrote her name in the family tree — a 300 year-old document that had never mentioned a female. He put Malala in school — not only so that she could know her own potential through education, but also for the mere political defiance of writing his daughter's name on an enrollment form, thus signaling her very existence as a human being. (He had never seen the names of any of his 5 sisters on any document whatsoever; they simply did not exist within their own country.)
And most of all he said, "I taught her to unlearn the lesson of obedience."
Which was such a shocking transgression that a Taliban gunman shot her for it. (I always think it's particularly telling that she was shot in the head — shot in the MIND. Anything to shut down that female brain.)
She survived, famously, and still fights for education for girls. (She spoke last night to us from a video feed — she couldn't come to the conference because she's in SCHOOL — and she dazzled.)
This girl is extraordinary; this father is extraordinary.
He finished his speech by saying that people always ask him what he did to make Malala into such a strong warrior. He says it's not what he did; it's what he DIDN'T do: "I didn't clip her wings."
I was so honored and emotional to be there last night to hear this, and wanted to share it with you all.
Unlearn your obedience, women.
Teach your girls to unlearn their obedience.
Never clip their wings.
And let a star shine in the crown of this father, and all parents, who guide their daughters to grow strong.
Onward,
LG
via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall
