News & Blog

POEM OF THE DAY: "Sweet Darkness", by David Whyte.

A friend of this page named Lois reminded me yesterday of this poem, which I once loved much and have not thought about in years. I thought I would share it with you all today.

Please pay close attention to these final extraordinary lines:

"Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you."

Commit that idea to memory, dear ones.

Love,
Liz

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

JANE EYRE DAY IS TOMORROW!!!

My dear, sweet, fellow readers —

The day is nearly upon us. Tomorrow, Saturday June 8th, we shall spend the whole of the day discussing the mutually-read (and widely loved) novel "Jane Eyre".

The book club will begin as soon as I wake up.

It will go on for many, many hours. I don't know how many. But many. We'll see how long we can keep it going. It'll be a Brontë-thon!

I shall begin posting questions and notions about Jane Eyre as soon as I rise, and I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts, so that we can all respond to one another throughout the day. I'll try to post a new thought or question or response every hour. Together — with delight and respect and, yes, a bit of fun — we shall take apart this weird and wild book.

You may all jump in and out of the discussion at any time.

And yes, you may join us even if you have never read it, or have only seen movie versions. Because we are not strict and cruel Miss Scratcherds here…no, we are not! We are Miss Temples, all of us. Thus, everyone is welcome.

HUZZAH!

See you back here tomorrow, my fellow Jane-i-acs!

Cordially yours,
Ëlizabëth Gilbërt

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

The best possible interpretation of the wonderful word "SITZFLEISCH". Thank you Christie and Judy!

Obscure word doodle #3
www.judyclementwall.com
My friend, Christie, shared with me today's obscure word from the Facebook wall of Elizabeth Gilbert. The word is sitzfleisch, and I don't know if it's obscure so much as German, but I'd never hear…

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

QUESTION OF THE DAY: IS IT SELFISH TO GO ON A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY?

Somebody asked me this the other day and it made me smile, because it reminded me of the years between 2006 and 2010 (what I call "The Eat Pray Love Years") when somebody (often a reporter or interviewer) would ask me this question EVERY SINGLE DAY.

It's been a while since I've had to answer it, so I will take a trip down memory lane here, and answer it once more.

The answer is: No.

No, it is not selfish to go on a spiritual journey. For that matter, it is not selfish to go a vision quest, or to embark on therapeutic/psychological self-examination, or to go on a pilgrimage, or to devote yourself to prayer and meditation, or to take any sort of creative or healing or investigative voyage into the self whatsoever.

Because:

1) It is your divine and intrinsic right as a human being to discover who you are, and who God is, and what your purpose is, and what your talents are, and where your joy is to be found, and how to ease your own suffering and the suffering of others. (In fact, seriously: What else are you going to spend your life doing, if not, at some point, taking a bit of time to try answering even one of those questions?)

2) Going on a true journey of self-exploration should not be confused with going to a spa for a weekend. It is not a way of spoiling yourself. It is not a luxury. It is not a mani-pedi for the soul. Nor is it a relaxing endeavor — as anyone who has gone deep into meditation or self-examination can attest. We don't necessarily take on the central questions of self and divinity (Who am I? Who is God?) because it's FUN. Often we are driven toward those questions by great suffering, and can only work our way through those hard questions with tremendous courage. Sometimes we don't even want to ask those questions, but simply must. What's more, these questions can be asked at any moment, from any place in the world, in the midst of any situation. These are not questions for the rich or the privileged only. You don't need a plane ticket anywhere to explore this stuff. I have a friend who is investigating these questions from within a prison cell right now — and trust me, even from within his seven-by-ten-foot cage, he is ON A JOURNEY.

3) Going on a journey toward the self is actually a public service. You know why? Because until you get to the bottom of yourself — until you humbly investigate the roots of your own suffering and nonsense and misery and destructive patterns — you will just keep causing mayhem, misery and trouble…not only for yourself, but for others. A friend of mine who has been savagely unhappy for years finally started therapy a few months ago, and he said to me, "It's super helpful, but I just feel so selfish, spending this much time and money on myself…" To which I replied, "Trust me, dude. It is benefiting ALL OF US." (His wife and children most of all. But seriously — all of us win whenever a loved one gets helped or healed.)

4) I was once told that in Mandarin there are two words that both translate into "SELFISH" in English. One means "Doing something that benefits you." The other means, "Doing something that benefits you at the expense of others." In English, we don't have this distinction. But there is a recognition in Chinese that these are two different notions — that it is not necessarily true that anything you do for yourself harms others. Sometimes you can do wonderful and important things for yourself without taking a thing away from another human being. This is the difference between self-care and greed. Self-care = GOOD. Greed = BAD. They are critically different. Never forget it.

5) THE END.

Have a nice day/quest,
Liz

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

A nice video…

Dear Ones — It's a bit tricky to find, but if you scroll down the page on this link below and look for the VIDEOS section, you will find a short video of me talking about my new novel, "The Signature of All Things".

You will see that I am really, really excited about this book.

Like — maybe I'm a little TOO excited? Maybe I'm so excited that I should perhaps dial it down a TEENSY bit? (I haven't gotten out in public for a while, as I was working for three straight years on this novel, is my excuse. I should probably learn to affect an air of studied nonchalance. But it seems I can't.)

Because, yeah: Excited.

🙂
Liz

Penguin at BEA – Penguin Group (USA)
www.us.penguingroup.com
Don't miss a minute of the Penguin Group USA BEA 2013 experience. Visit us for daily for author videos and featured giveaways of some of our most anticipated Fall 2013 books.

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall