Elizabeth Gilbert's Blog, page 23

I am delighted to let you know that I will be appearing on a special two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey on her wonderful show, “Super Soul Sunday”.

These two interviews will air Sunday, October 5 and Sunday, October 12 at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

In Part One of the interview (airing Oct 5) I’ll be talking with Oprah about what it means to embark on a quest in order to find your own purpose in life. Specifically, I’ll talk about how transformation in our lives is never easy or painless, but essential to the growth of our soul.

In Part Two of the interview (airing Oct 12) I will talk more personally about how I found the courage to walk my own path, including my decision not to have children, and how this has impacted my life. I will also discuss being married for the second time and what I “know for sure” about love and happiness.

GOOD STUFF, Y’ALL!

These two conversations with Oprah were among the most searching and joyous of my life…hope you can join us!

All blessings,

Liz


And here are all the details for how you can follow along with these interviews:

“SUPER SOUL SUNDAY” LIVESTREAM:

The 11 a.m. hour will be live streaming WORLDWIDE at 11 a.m. ET/PT on:

http://Oprah.com/supersoulsunday & https://facebook.com/supersoulsunday

OPRAH RADIO: 11 am ET, Sirius Channel 204, XM Channel 107

TWITTER:@SuperSoulSunday, @Oprah, #SuperSoulSunday

Super Soul Sunday Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday

Super Soul Sunday Instagram: https://instagram.com/supersoulsunday

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SUPER SOUL SUNDAY…times two!

Dear Ones -

I'm delighted to let you all know that I'll be appearing on TWO back-to-back episodes of Super Soul Sunday with the great Oprah Winfrey — this Sunday Oct 5, and next Sunday Oct 12.

In the first interview, we spoke about QUESTS, and how important it is at times to go on a journey (either spiritually or literally) in order to find your soul's true purpose.

In the second interview, we spoke about love and marriage and happiness and intimacy and all that good juicy stuff.

Oprah is, of course, the greatest conversationalist there is. We had a wonderful time, ranging deep and far into questions of the soul and questions of the self. No better topics than that!

Hope you'll tune in!

The shows will air live at 11am on 10/5 and 10/12, on the OWN-TV network.

You can also follow along this way:

“SUPER SOUL SUNDAY" LIVESTREAM: The 11 a.m. hour will be livestreaming WORLDWIDE at 11 a.m. ET/PT on: http://ift.tt/1jUFnzR<http://ift.tt/1xFlnJr http://ift.tt/18mhN9o

OPRAH RADIO: 11 am ET, Sirius Channel 204, XM Channel 107

TWITTER: @SuperSoulSunday, @Oprah, #SuperSoulSunday

Super Soul Sunday Facebook: http://ift.tt/1lqTLPW

Super Soul Sunday Instagram: http://ift.tt/1vbyXiN

Onward ever!

LG

SUPER SOUL SUNDAY with Oprah Winfrey! | Elizabeth Gilbert – The Official Website |…
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I am delighted to let you know that I will be appearing on a special two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey on her wonderful show, "Super Soul Sunday". Thes

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Preach, Jane. PREACH!

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A very kind friend of this page named David posted this today, and asked that I might share it. He said that his heart is aching for everyone who needs transformation in their lives right now, and he asked that we might join in a group prayer toward wishing them well.

Honestly, the simple kindness of this request brought tears to my eyes.

So let's do it.

Let us offer a collective prayer of love this morning for all who are stuck, heartbroken, afraid and lost.

May your turnaround come to you, as it has come to so many of us who have been there.

Pastor Rob Bell describes "despair" as the belief that tomorrow is going to be exactly the same as today.

May you lose that belief, and may it be replaced with a conviction that your future does not necessarily have to look like your past — in fact, your future can be a radically transformed universe. Many of us can attest to that reality — myself included.

You're still here. You're still breathing. If you woke up this morning, you have a second chance. Same thing goes for tomorrow…and onward, and onward.

Hang in there.

May God bless you,
LG

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HAPPY READING, DEAR ONES!

LG

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STUBBORN GLADNESS

A friend of this page made this for me, and it's so lovely.

Those of you who follow this page have heard me use the term "stubborn gladness" before. I took it from my favorite poem, by the poet Jack Gilbert, where he says, "We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world."

I love the term "stubborn gladness". It is my mantra. I am seriously thinking of getting it tattooed somewhere on my arm, in small, block letters, so I can be reminded always of my ultimate goal in life.

Stubborn gladness is different from mere happiness. Happiness is easy — when it's there, that is. Happiness comes upon you, often out of nowhere. Happiness is airy, fresh, simple. Happiness comes and goes on its own schedule.

Stubborn gladness, on the other hand, is my daily work. It is my prayer. It is a decision. It is a choice. It belongs to me. It is in my hands. It is the most important work — the most important choice — of my life.

Because I am not always bubbling over with happiness, you see. Not every day is a terrific day for me. My mind is not always quiet. I am not always certain of my decisions. I am not always full of faith. I am not always super-proud of my behavior. I am not always super-psyched about the behavior of other people.

But I can tell you this: Every single blessed day of my life, I fight my way back toward the light with stubborn gladness.

Stubborn gladness just to be here.

Stubborn gladness just to have been given another chance at grace.

Every. Single. Blessed. Day.

Onward!
LG

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HELLO NYC-AREA FRIENDS!

I'll be doing a benefit on this Thursday night (Oct 2) in New York City for one of my favorite charities — an organization called Row New York!

Row New York is a marvelous and effective initiative that brings competitive rowing to underserved communities in New York area. By introducing kids in rough neighborhoods to the ultimate team sport of rowing, they teach discipline, confidence and teamwork — while also getting the kids out into nature.

But Row New York doesn't stop at sports. The kids hang out at the boathouse every afternoon, with tutors to help them on their schoolwork and SATs, and counselors to help them get into good colleges. Their success rate is incredibly impressive. Many of their graduates are now attending terrific schools (Dartmouth, Colby, Bryn Mawr) on athletic or academic scholarships.

Come spend the evening with me on Thursday, and help me to support one of my favorite organizations in NYC!

Details here:

http://bit.ly/1rx1nUh

ONWARD,
LG

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A friend of this page made this for me…for us — a favorite line from EAT PRAY LOVE.

So lovely.

ONWARD, stubbornly.
LG

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"YOU DON"T GET WHAT YOU WISH FOR; YOU GET WHAT YOU BELIEVE."

Here's a photo from Oprah's The Life You Want Tour yesterday in Newark. THANK YOU with all my heart to everyone who showed up to my "hometown" event in New Jersey…oh my heavens, it was a crowd of angels in that arena!

And I wanted to share this quote, which Oprah said during her speech on Friday night: "You don't get what you wish for; you get what you believe." She followed that line with the observation, "A lot of people out there are just wishing…"

She spoke about her own journey out of 1950s aparteid-era Mississippi. She said she never believed anything that her external circumstances said about her life. She never believed that she was poor, that she had no value, that there was no place in the world or the media for someone who looked like her…she never believed anything except that she was a child of God, with a calling and a mission, and that her world was hers to create.

What do you believe about yourself, as opposed to what you simply wish for?

I was thinking about this yesterday — thinking about the years when I was an unpublished writer and a diner waitress in Philadelphia. Nobody would have envied my existence then, but I loved those years, because I was on fire with excitement about my own life. I believed in my own path, my own vocation, my own work. (Nobody else did, mind you, but I didn't much care.)

I believed back then that I was a writer, despite having absolutely no external corroboration to back it up. This is not to say that I thought I was a GREAT writer, but I knew I was a writer. And I knew I would never stop walking that path. In fact, I was walking my path ALREADY, because I wrote every single day, and with passion. The fact that I had to work 8 shifts a week bringing people their eggs and hashbrowns was just incidental, just what you gotta do to pay the bills. I was already a writer. This was what I believed, despite my pile of rejection letters, despite coming home from work smelling like kitchen grease every day. I believed it with all my soul, so I never quit.

Years later, I ran into a woman who had once been a customer of mine at the diner. She said, "I can't believe you were my diner waitress and now you're this serious writer!"

All I could do was smile. Because I knew what she could never have known — that I had ALWAYS been "this serious writer." All she had ever seen was some random chick in an apron, refiling people's coffee. But I had seen something else. I had believed something else. Always.

I became what I believed.

"Be careful what you wish for," people say — and maybe they are correct, because the wishing isn't enough, and the wishing can distract you from the BEING.

Lay your wishes aside for a spell, and look deep into what you believe about yourself. Make sure your beliefs about your own life are anchored in greatness, in holiness, in worth, in grace, in joy, in excitement —in internal certainties rather than external circumstances. Because that belief? That's where you're heading, no matter what it may look like on the outside.

ONWARD,
LG

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I nominate this for one of the most beautiful photos of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS YET. Here it is (the UK edition) in Korea. Lovely!

Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert
After travelling around Turkey. Alma is finally in South Korea:) Lovely book for a lovely island in Korea. — at Namiseom.

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