Yesterday I saw Eat Pray Love and I was moved beyond words. I know the movie didn't get rave reviews, and I hadn't read the best-selling book, but I do like Julia Roberts and I've always been fascinating by tales of exploration and transformation, so I went to see it and I absolutely loved it .
On the surface, I thought the movie was visually stunning, but optics aside, there were so many lessons, so many trials and triumphs. I can't imagine having the funds or the courage to travel the world as Liz Gilbert did. Then I realized that I don't have to. I feel as if I experienced her journey with her and am prepared to embrace the lessons she learned. I'm thankful to Liz Gilbert, Julia Roberts, and everyone else involved in bringing this amazing journey to life for those of us who're open to seeing the beauty of the story that was being told.
On the surface, I thought the movie was visually stunning, but optics aside, there were so many lessons, so many trials and triumphs. I can't imagine having the funds or the courage to travel the world as Liz Gilbert did. Then I realized that I don't have to. I feel as if I experienced her journey with her and am prepared to embrace the lessons she learned. I'm thankful to Liz Gilbert, Julia Roberts, and everyone else involved in bringing this amazing journey to life for those of us who're open to seeing the beauty of the story that was being told.
Earlier today I sent an email to a friend, trying to express my thoughts on the movie without giving anything away in case she hadn't seen it and was planning to. As a point of reference, I told her that while I love movies, I've only purchased 3 movies on DVD - ever... Under the Tuscan Sun, Something's Gotta Give, and Avatar (because I thought the computer animation was incredible). I added that I would be buying Eat Pray Love as soon as it came out on DVD. Since then I've been thinking about how weird it must have sounded that of the hundreds, if not thousands, of movies I've seen, these are the only ones I've bought.
I started wondering if there were any common themes, and it came to me almost immediately that there was one. In each of these wildly different movies, the theme of "family" resonated with me. Not family as in blood line or marriage. Not family as in the traditional nuclear unit. Not family as in The Huxtables either. The thread that binds them all to my heart is the idea of family being something that we chose to cobble together over time. It comes in different sizes, shapes, ages, and backgrounds, and rarely looks the way we would have imagined. Yet there is love, encouragement, support, laughter, tears and an unwavering commitment to a sense of shared destiny, no matter where each member's path may lead.
I started wondering if there were any common themes, and it came to me almost immediately that there was one. In each of these wildly different movies, the theme of "family" resonated with me. Not family as in blood line or marriage. Not family as in the traditional nuclear unit. Not family as in The Huxtables either. The thread that binds them all to my heart is the idea of family being something that we chose to cobble together over time. It comes in different sizes, shapes, ages, and backgrounds, and rarely looks the way we would have imagined. Yet there is love, encouragement, support, laughter, tears and an unwavering commitment to a sense of shared destiny, no matter where each member's path may lead.
At 51, I'm building my family. Perhaps I have been for a while, but just didn't realize it. The circle is small, and they don't even all know each other, but they all know me, the real me, and they love me because of who I am, not in spite of it. Today I thank God for my family, the ones that are already in my life and the ones that haven't shown up yet.
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