Eat Pray Love

I am FINALLY getting around to writing my book review for Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Here are a bunch of associated links you may like to visit:

Elizabeth Gilbert web page for the book

IMDB's article for the film (2010)

Film trailer #2

Wikipedia's article for the book

Book on Amazon.com

Rotten Tomatoes ratings and reviews for the film

So. My review on the book.

SPOILER ALERT!

Don't read any further if you don't want to know if Elizabeth finds love in the third leg of her journey.

I really enjoyed this memoir of a woman's pursuit of happiness by way of gorging Italian food, growing spiritually and galloping off in love. It is a light book that is well suited to those who enjoy travel.

My favorite part is Eat, where Elizabeth lets her self live through eating whatever she wants in Italy. Loads of spaghetti and original pizza! I liked her friendship with her Italian tutor a lot and the friends she met there. Her little apartment was quaint in my memory of her living space.

Speaking of living spaces, she had great fortune because she had an awesome room and roommate (though quiet, heh) in India in the Pray leg of the trip. I had mixed feelings about this portion of the book going into it: ugh, I don't want religion/spirituality shoved down my throat versus hmmm, I wonder what she got out of her stay in the community in India. Turns out I really enjoyed this part. I especially liked how Elizabeth came around to love the arduous prayers. I'm a big believer in the fruits of the process and hard work that goes into something. I like that Elizabeth found something in which to pour herself spiritually. The sense of community she found was therapeutic, too. And let's not forget Richard from Texas! He was one of my top favorite people she met in her trip.

And the final place Elizabeth stayed was BEAUTIFUL! Bali. Beaches. Breezes. The movie made her living quarters a little more glamorous than I imagined in my head, but it still worked well. If I go to Bali, I hope I am lucky enough to stay in a similar bungalow. But, ah, the topic of love. Love is the biggest mystery, and in the end I'd just like to say that it finds you in its own time. *shrug.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

LH: 5 Traits of Low-Stress, Happy Workers

Stumbled on this LifeHacker article about the "5 Traits of Low-Stress, Happy Workers." Take a look:

http://lifehacker.com/5751875/five-traits-low+stress-happy-work-cultures-have-in-common

7 in 7

Original Post Date: 30 November 2010



I have the pleasure of knowing a great young man by the name of Zach Swee. He started doing something he calls 7 in 7. He does 7 things every day for 7 days. Actually, he's so disciplined and good at it that he now does 60 in 60! So impressive!

Anyway, I'm going to start out with 7 in 7. I'm going to start this Sunday, 5 December 2010. Here are my 7 things in no particular order of importance:

1. Floss
2. Read for one hour before bed
3. Knit a cup cozy
4. 30-45 minutes of yoga
5. Eat one serving of fruit and one serving of vegetable
6. Journal
7. Sew for one hour

Are you going to try it? What are your 7?




Edit on Thursday, 2 December 2010:
PS - my good Australian friend, Tamara, told me about Sebastian Terry. He is doing 100 Big Things before he hits 30. Check out his blog here to see what he's accomplished. His list includes sky diving naked, buying a stranger's lunch, delivering a baby - he's making waves for those with stale bucket lists!

Edit on Tuesday, 7 December 2010:
PS - my original 7 things were entirely too ambitious on the whole! Here are my revised 7 things:

1. Floss
2. Read for one hour before bed
3. Knit
4. 30-45 minutes of yoga OR 4+ mile run
5. Eat one serving of fruit and one serving of vegetable
6. Journal and/or post on Emovolution
7. Blog and/or post for Reverb10

Reverb10 - 1 December

My friend, Kayelee, told me about this blogger thing called Reverb10. The idea is to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead.

December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)

My one word for 2010: "stirring." This year has shifted me in some ways; it has stirred my mind, heart and soul. A dear friend sent me a card that read "life begins at the edge of your comfort zone." I put that to play and started stepping out of my comfort zone. I've began questioning some things about myself, too. 2010 has been stirring.

As for 2011, I tried to think of a single word that doesn't apply to every year (adventurous, transforming, growth, renewing, etc.), but found that I wasn't really able to find a unique term. Of all the things I want every year to be, however, the word "present" stuck out to me. I realized that in the last two years I've been allowing part of myself to remain stuck in the past. I am making "present" my word for 2011 so that I may fully let go of some things, and fully live in the present. I also don't want to get too caught up in making plans for the future, so having the word "present" represent 2011 is spot on.

Pay It Forward Day

Today is Pay It Forward Day. If you're unfamiliar with the phrase, you should check out the movie entitled "Pay It Forward." Excellent movie; even better concept.

Today is meant to spark inspiration in people to do something nice for three people. The idea is that they would, in response to your kindness, "pay it forward" to three other people. And so on!

Today I did these three nice things for people:

1. I sent a colleague, Bill McNamee, a thank you note through a system at work that allows me to notify his manager that I sent the note. The thank you note was to thank and recognize Bill for the tremendous help he's provided me in becoming accustomed to a system we use at work called Unity.

2. Bought an ice skating package for a friend (includes entry, skate rental, popcorn and a pop).

3. Chipped a few dollars for the next guy at Jimmy John's.

Hawk Photo

There are a couple of hawks nesting in one of my parent's front yard's tree. My Dad climbed up on the RV and got a good shot of one of the parents feeding on a misfortunate bird. Ah, nature. Good photo, Daddy!

Morning Anthem

This song, Starting Now by Ingrid Michaelson, turned out to be my morning's anthem. Sometimes sad things are necessary. While painful, pruning is, overall, a healthy process.



I want to crawl back inside my mother's womb
I want to shut out all the lights in this room
I want to start fresh, like a baby in a sink
Scrub away all these thoughts that I think of you

So life moves slowly when you're waiting for it to boil
Feel like I watch from 6 feet under the soil
Still want to hold you and kiss behind your ears
But i re count the countless tears that i lost for you

But before you finally go there's one thing you should know: That I promise -

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

I want to crawl back inside my bed of sin
I want to burn the sheets that smell like your skin
Instead I'll wash them just like kitchen rags with stains
Spinning away every piece that remains of you

But before you finally go there's one thing you should know: That I promise -

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

It's my world, it's not ours anymore
It's my world, it's not ours anymore

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

10 Ways to Live Longer

10 Ways to Live Longer

1. Look for the laugh - people with a good sense of humor increased their survival odds by 31%.

2. Pop five pills - vitamins are good for you.

3. Don't gum up the works - gingivitis is bad.

4. Talk and walk - 30 minutes of walking per day is a step in the right direction.

5. Taste the rainbow - eat a variety of colorful veggies (bell peppers are great).

6. Am for your optimal weight - stick close to your teenage weight.

7. Do some good - volunteers live longer and have fewer health problems.

8. De-stress with intimacy - need I say more?

9. Finish those annoying tasks - mounting to do lists can have health impacts similar to that of divorces or deaths of loved ones.

10. Hit the sack - seven to eight hours of shut-eye allows the body to rest and fully recover.

I am happy to report that I am doing pretty darned well in 9 of the 10 areas, as embarrassing as it may be to admit. Here's my run-down:

1. I laugh at Heidi all the time. I think she laughs with me sometimes.

2. I take all sorts of vitamins: E, C, calcium, fish oil, multi and zinc/magnesium/something else.

3. I brush my teeth three times a day. I could improve the flossing frequency, but I do use a tongue scraper whenever I brush.

4. Now that I have Heidi I am outside a lot. I take her on several walks every day. As for the talking part, mostly I talk to other dog-owners, neighbors and the kids, but sometimes I just talk to Heidi.

5. I suppose I could work on this a bit, but I do focus on a veggie and a fruit each week. The vitamins help here.

6. I am the same as I was in high school. I'm on the cusp of dipping below that benchmark. On top of that, I'm in better shape.

7. I have been volunteering one to two times a month lately.

8. This one is a flat line for me. Meh.

9. I am an organization and prioritzation freak. I keep those grimy tasks from taking over my mood. Well, 95% of the time I'm in control, anyway. Everyone slips.

10. Since college I've learned how well my body responds to proper amounts of sleep. I always get at least 7 hours, 8 typically.

How are you doing against this list?

-Amanda

(List credit goes to Style Magazine's Beauty section.)

The Last Lecture

My favorite class in college was Change Management. It's a pretty unappealing class title given that most everyone fears change and management sounds mundane. The professor made all the difference. Why? He cared. I think he realized that people needed to be taught how to cope with change, and so teaching this class was his way of making a difference in the world, one Purdue student at a time. He certainly made a difference in my life. (By the way, his name is Al Crispo. Here is his Purdue faculty biography.)

Another professor who has changed the lives of many on a much larger scale was Randy Pausch. I first hear of Randy in my Change Management class. My professor gave us a "movie day," and we were drawn in to Randy's story. Basically Randy lived a pretty great life even through finding out he had terminal cancer. He found a way to tell his story, his life lessons, his wisdom in the face of death to colleagues, students current and past, and even his three young children through his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon. I'm not going to try to cover all that he does in the video, but I urge you to take the time to watch it sometime. It will inspire you to shoot for the moon; even if you miss you will land among the stars.

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams by Randy Pausch

A while after seeing Randy's video I learned that he had made the lecture into book format. I am reading the book now, and it is excellent. It is a handbook for success and happiness, really, two things which make for a pretty nice life.

I am not going to do a book review past this entry as I've already covered what I would like to cover on this lecture and book. Except that I have great admiration for Randy: he was able to take the worst possible news (you're going to die soon) and better the world with that news; that is remarkable grace. Anyway, this book is one of those books I feel every person ought to read.

-Amanda

Maya the Wise

Here are some things Maya has learned in life:
'I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.'

'I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.'

'I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.'

'I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.'

'I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.'

'I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.'

'I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.'

'I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.'

'I've learned that people will forget what you said and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'

The Alchemist

When I first saw this book in the store I wondered what story could be told about chemistry and mountains. When I first heard a passage of the book in a dear friends wedding I added the novel to my reading list. Lucky for me, it wound up being the November 2009 book for my book club; we had wonderful, intimate discussion that evening at Stardust.

Here are a few reasons why I love "The Alchemist:"

1. It read like a fairy tale, transporting me to childhood with breaths of magic, nostalgia and enlightenment.
2. The story is simple and powerful.
3. The protagonist is transformed.
4. I think everyone would benefit from reading it.
5. The allegories are clever and well done.

I'm upset with myself for waiting so long to write this review, but "better late than never," right? Bottom line: you should read "The Alchemist" if you haven't already.

Wikipedia Article

Amanda