I swear I wrote a review on this book already. I’m really surprised I didn’t, since I keep thinking about it months after I read it. At any rate…

I thought Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert was some sort of key to better health, by the title. But then my best friend in the universe, Andrijana, whose book tastes run identical to mine, told me otherwise.

I have a strong belief that certain books come to us when we need them most. When I read this, I needed inspiration and a little adventure. And it made the decision to move to China a little easier.

The author’s going through a bad divorce and a bad rebound relationship. She decides to take a year off and travel to Italy, India, and Indonesia for some mental, spiritual, and physical rest. I love to travel, so of course this appealed to me.

She finds challenges, like surviving a silent retreat, that are completely relatable. But I also envied her, because she’s my age (ish) and did things I could never see myself being capable (traveling around the world for a year alone being one).

Still, I loved this book. In thinking about China, I have determined that I need to have some sort of spiritual goal to make it a better trip. I am Buddhist (did ya know?), so being where Buddhism sprang up, was repressed, then rose again, will be inspirational. It will provide a different spiritual context for my life. I would also like to start meditating. I suck at it, so I hope to find a meditation class. Other than that, I want to slow down (yes, honey, I do listen to you) and enjoy life more.

What about you? Did you read the book? What did you take from it?