News & Blog
SOUL MATES! Dear Ones — Here’s a clip from my upcoming Super Soul Sunday appear…
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!
MALALA! In honor of the news that Malala Yousafzai has won the Nobel Prize for…
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
FRIDAY HOUSEKEEPING! Dear Ones – We get a lot of new people joining this Faceb…
FRIDAY HOUSEKEEPING!
Dear Ones –
We get a lot of new people joining this Facebook page every day (thank you for joining our little community, new folks!) so once a week, I try to give everyone all the information they might want, about other places on the Internet to find me.
So let’s run down the list:
My website is https://ift.tt/sUqSyM. There, you can find information on all my upcoming events, see videos, read my thoughts on the writing process, and download book club guides to my books!
I have an email newsletter (where I always reveal my big news first, see exclusive home videos, and sometimes run contests, when I remember to.) You can join the newsletter by clicking the icon on the left of this page called "LizNews" and signing up. (You can also sign up for LizNews on the homepage of my website.)
You can follow me on Twitter, where I basically just goof off, at: https://ift.tt/1tJzIxR
You can follow me on Instagram (which I just started because some 14-year-olds told me to) at:
You can follow me on Pinterest (that addictive crack house, whose vortex I try not to tumble down too often because it’s a gorgeous suckhole) at: https://ift.tt/1tJzKpd
And if you EVER want to buy to buy signed copies of ANY of my books, you can buy them online through the shop, Two Buttons, that I run in New Jersey with my husband (otherwise known as “that Brazilian guy”.) The link is right here: https://ift.tt/1pfR7PX
That is all, my dears!
(And yes, in all these various social media forums, it is actually ME doing the posting, the chatting, the responding, the pinning, the time-wasting. I like it. It’s fun. I like hanging out with you guys. I’m glad you like hanging out with me. Also, I have no children and my husband cooks, so I have plenty of extra time on my hands…)
?
Thanks for everything!
ONWARD,
LG
You know how I always say “ONWARD”? This is what I’m talking about. 🙂 LG
You know how I always say "ONWARD"?
This is what I'm talking about.
🙂
LG
#TBT MY FAVORITE AGE: 9 years old. 9 years old is the perfect a for a girl, I…
#TBT
MY FAVORITE AGE: 9 years old.
9 years old is the perfect a for a girl, I do believe. It was for this girl, anyway.
After the bewilderment of early childhood was over, before the confusions of puberty began.
Instinctively self-confident.
Immensely excited about pretty much everything.
And ROCKING the Dorothy Hamill haircut.
1978. It was a good year for the color mustard, as well…and for that one lazy eye.
🙂
I love my life so much these days, and when I am at my very best these days — my very happiest — I sometimes almost feel like I'm 9 again. No better feeling than that.
What was your favorite age? And why?
🙂
LG