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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"WE MUST BE WILLING TO LET GO OF THE LIFE WE HAVE PLANNED, SO AS TO HAVE THE LIFE THAT IS WAITING FOR US."

The other day, someone on this page was asking me if I was familiar with a certain Joseph Campbell quote, and when I went Internet-mining for it, I found this one, instead (attached below) which I now remember having written down years ago.

So today my question is twofold:

1) Do you guys believe this?

2) Can anybody out there smarter or more educated than me tell me if this quote actually belongs to beloved Uncle Joe Campbell, or is it really from E.M. Forster? Because I've seen it attributed to both men, and I can't find the origin.

Anyhow. As for me, I'm almost entirely on board with this notion. At times I think there is hardly anything, in fact, that I HAVEN'T needed to let go of it in order to get to the right place in my life/heart/mind. (As an obsessive planner and a bit of a clinger, this has not always been easy.) Yet when I think about this idea more carefully, I'm not sure it applies to every single circumstance. There are plans that I made for myself early in life and clung to with badger-like stubbornness (becoming a writer, namely) that it would have been personally disastrous of me to have abandoned. And yet so much else has had to be jettisoned…

If anyone has read my book "Committed", you may remember my story about my friend Christine, who — at the age of 40 — finally created a ceremony in which she gave up the idea of being married. Somehow as a child she had swallowed this idea that she would not be whole or a complete adult until she was a married woman. (Gee, I can't imagine where she might have picked up THAT concept! Thank you, media/family/thousands-of-years-of-Western-Civilization.) As she got older and remained single, she came to believe that what she called "the tyranny of the bride" was haunting and eating her real life, causing her to be stunted and limited — always waiting for marriage to come and confirm/legitimatize her life, rather than living her destiny. So, for her birthday, she built a gorgeous little toy-sized boat out of paper and balsam wood, meant to represent the old obsession with marriage. She filled it with petals and rice, waded it out into the ocean, set it on fire, and let it go. And walked back to shore to begin her real life.

What have you had to let go of? What have you fought to keep? How are we meant to know the difference?

And who the hell said this wise, lovely thing, anyhow???

Big kiss,
Liz

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

HAPPY JULY 4th, everyone!

(And for those of you who live in other countries, happy fourth day of July…just because!)

Curious: How do you guys feel about fireworks? What's your favorite fireworks memory?

Here's mine: 1976, Connecticut. It's the Bicentennial of America, and — especially in New England — people are going ALL OUT in celebration. I am seven years old. My mom and my uncle have taken us to the top of a hill somewhere to watch fireworks. I am totally dressed like a colonial child, complete with bonnet. (Thanks for sewing that costume, Mom — and for letting me wear it EVERY SINGLE DAY that summer, though I'm still sad you wouldn't let me wear it to school come September.)

Anyhow, I have never seen fireworks before. It's both impressive and a little bit frightening. Then a giant spewing ball of light goes up in the air and sends out a thousand other little tiny spewing droplets of light, and I say: "Wow! It looks like sperm!"

(I had learned some stuff in school, people, on the playground. It was the 70's. Kids were talking.)

To her everlasting credit, my mom laughed. To my uncle's everlasting credit, he laughed so hard that he tumbled out of our Ford Pinto and rolled around on the grass for a while in fits of hysterics.

I had no idea what was so funny. Me in my bonnet and my floor-length (polyester) gingham dress and my lace apron. I just thought I was being descriptively accurate.

Since that time, I have never again been able to see fireworks without thinking of this incident. And now I hope you enjoy your celebrations tonight. Think of me (and of human reproduction!) when the big one goes off.

HAVE FUN,
Liz

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

Dear East Coast of America:

If you've never taken a road trip out to my store Two Buttons in Frenchtown NJ, today's a great day for it! 🙂

Love
Liz

Timeline Photos
HAPPY JULY 4!

We will be open on July 4th, normal hours (10 – 5pm).

Come to beautiful Frenchtown for explorations, ice creams, river views and fireworks!

(By the way, this beautiful flag image is a collage made by our dear friend, the artist John Morse. If you want to see more of his work, click here: https://www.stardogstudio.com)

Love,
THE BUTTONS
It's a colorful and happy day in Frenchtown!

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

Missy Mu Mu: Target Demographic for Liz Gilbert Books.

Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert
Eat, Pray, Love . . . Missy Mu Mu

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

A HAPPINESS JAR from Romania, scented with dried lavender!

Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall