Elizabeth Gilbert

I love her. It's kind of hilarious because we probably don't agree on a single political or moral issue, but I adore her. She has such fascinating ideas and the way she articulates herself makes me want to worship at her feet like a crazed idolater. I found her speech on ted.com about nurturing creativity and found my heart melting inside myself as she vocalized so many thoughts I've only ever glimpsed in my own thinking. That she saw them long enough and clearly enough for me to recognize them is a truly remarkable thing to me.

The link to watch her presentation is here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Also, I should mention that Eat Pray Love is on my top three favorite books list. Yes, it's full of profanity and a few lewd conversations, which are usually repulsive to me. But I'm so moved by it, I'm so changed by it, that I am forced to give credit where it's due and say the book is truly remarkable.

Can I make an argument against myself and quote Michael Ballam who suggests that Satan uses the best talent on the planet to distract us from that which is holy and light? Yes. Can I argue that if I wouldn't want my young children to read it I probably should not read it myself? Yes. Can I argue that my whole previous paragraph was the most difficult aspect of my undergraduate degree, as I studied books written beautifully about filth and realized the "classics" were almost as foreign to me as they ever were? Yes.

So I'm torn. Maybe this is a moment where I'm a little blinded. But then there is another part of me that yearns to see the good in that which I don't or can't fully condone. Surely it's a Godly attribute to love the wonder in people while acknowledging the weakness. We cannot love in pieces. We cannot shun everything and everyone outside our intimate sphere of belief, can we? Should we?

At present, my heart's decision is to add Liz's name to my list of women I admire. I'd love to meet her and sip sparkling cider as she sips her wine while we chat about the things we both think. Maybe at some future point my heart will choose differently. But that's probably one of the best parts of journaling ...Seeing our own journey in print.