Elizabeth Gilbert's Blog, page 9

Dear Ones -

I'm up before the sun to work on my new book, but I'm not so lost in my writing that I can't appreciate a good pet video. Somebody sent this to me yesterday and it brought me the best wave of laughter I've had in a while.

You've all heard me say: EMBRACE THE BEAUTIFUL MESS THAT YOU ARE, right?

Well, this is what a really beautiful mess looks like! Oh, how I identify…

Enjoy, and eat your snacks, and ONWARD,

LG

http://bit.ly/1yL3oRp

Hilarious Golden Retriever Really Wants To Race But.. First Things First.
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LOL this golden retriever dog is just so funny. What would your dog do in this situation? Like this? Visit http://Pluble.com/ for more.

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Thank you for sharing this, Tracy! Your work is always so lovely…

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AWESOME.

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…and you were also not born to demand perfection of others.

I've been so humbled lately by watching some of my friends and family perform some really spectacular acts of grace and non-judgment in their relationships with each other.

As somebody who can be a TAD bit judgey (of myself and, I'm sorry to report, of others) it is always such an education for me when I watch people drop their egos and release their defenses and just allow life and humanity and the world to be REAL.

Right now, I'm watching a friend of mine work through a problem with a family member whom he loves dearly but who has been causing him considerable trouble. My friend has established some healthy boundaries with this person, but he hasn't cut off the relationship. (All I can say is: I would have cut off that relationship, if it were me. In fact, my OWN ego is offended, by how this family member is treating my friend….and it doesn't even have anything to do with me!)

But my friend has nothing but forgiveness and openness in his heart.

He explained it this way: "At my age, I simply can't care about the offense or the upset anymore. I only care about the person. So I'm willing let it go. I don't need to always be right anymore. I just want to be at peace with myself and with everyone."

I took his hand and said, "Walk me through that. Show me how."

He said, "Just let everyone be human, and bless their humanity, and rub a little God on it, and let it go."

I want nothing more than to have that much grace and space inside me — plenty of room for everyone's contradictions to flare up however they have to, without me getting all bent out of shape and constricted by my judgments and opinions.

So my Sunday prayer today is this: Help me learn how to get closer to accepting the real in all circumstances and all people, and further away from demanding the perfect out of anyone or anything.

Please, God, let my ego get smaller while my heart grows only bigger.

Amen and ONWARD,
LG

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WEEKLY HOUSEKEEPING!

Dear Ones –

We get a lot of new people joining this Facebook page every day (thank you for joining our little community, new folks!) so once a week, I try to give everyone all the information they might want, about other places on the Internet to find me.

So let’s run down the list:

My website is http://ift.tt/1tJzIxR

You can follow me on Instagram (which I just started because some 14-year-olds told me to) at:

http://ift.tt/1tJzIO7.

You can follow me on Pinterest (that addictive crack house, whose vortex I try not to tumble down too often because it’s a gorgeous suckhole) at: Elizabeth Gilbert - The Official Website | ElizabethGilbert.com.

A friend of this page shared this with me today. Marvelous, just marvelous.

Me and some of my old selves don't even have each other's phone numbers anymore.

LG

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KARAOKE WISDOM

Dear Ones -

Two life lessons about Karaoke for you this morning.

LESSON ONE:

On my birthday last year, some friends and I went out for Karaoke, because I love Karaoke. (The photo below is me singing FAITHFULLY by Journey. Because I truly love that song.) Anyhow, my friend Jimi got up to sing WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN, and although he wasn't overly familiar with that particular song, and he didn't really manage to hit all the notes, he sang it with all his heart. As he sang, he also danced with genuine passion and joy. It was awesome. After he was done, I congratulated Jimi on his amazing performance and he said, "The only want to NOT look like a fool when you do Karaoke is to show up for it 100%."

LESSON TWO:

I just heard a story last night about this hipster dude, who was doing a cross-country road trip across America, and who liked to entertain himself on the road by going into dumb Karoake bars all across the country and singing mocking renditions of songs he really hated, just to make himself laugh. Then one night, somewhere in Iowa, an old farmer came up to the hipster after he had fake-sung some Elton John song, and said, "Don't." The hipster was confused, but the farmer clarified: "Whatever it is you're doing up there when you sing, don't. Don't do that anymore. The people who come to this bar work really hard, and they come seeking a real emotional release. They choose songs to sing because they genuinely love those songs — because those songs make them happy, or sad, or because the songs remind them of some part of their life that had meaning. What you're doing, on the other hand, is just mockery. Don't." And the hipster dude was humbled and schooled, and maybe after that he became a tiny bit less of a total jackass.

IN CONCLUSION:

In life, as in Karaoke, the only way NOT to make a fool out of yourself is to show up 100%.

And the only way to access your humanity — or anyone else's — is to be an earnest person.

Show up, and be earnest.

100%

That's the formula, right there.

Then shut your eyes and just sing your heart out.

ONWARD,
LG

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GIVE THE GIFT OF A BOOK THIS CHRISTMAS!

Dear Ones -

My wonderful UK publishers at have just made this gorgeous and clever little video, about the love of books.

Watch it if you can — it's so sweet.

So many great quotes from authors…including my quote at the end!

ONWARD forever into the love of reading!

LG

http://bit.ly/15SFf0s

Give the gift of a book this Christmas
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We wanted to make a video that reminded people of the power of reading and the importance of great writing. We realised that the authors we publish – from Sh…

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So very true.

No matter how much time I spend trying to prettify my past, it never seems to change in the least!

But the future…ah, the future. The future we can work with…

ONWARD,
LG

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#TBT — Kenya, 1989

Dear Ones -

Here I am with a friend in Africa, in 1989. I was twenty years old. I had saved my money for two years to go on this trip to Kenya for a month, where I worked on a wild game refuge, studying the habits of scavenging birds.

That's where I met this cheetah, who had been discovered as a baby (its mother killed by poachers) and who had adopted the human family who owned the game ranch.

The cheetah's name was Duma, and he was absolutely lovely. Cheetahs tend not to be very aggressive, because they basically have no predators and no serious competitors. (If they don't like a situation, trust me, they can just LEAVE…really fast. And if another animal takes their kill, they can just go catch another one. Must be nice, being the fastest animal in the world. Makes for a relaxed life.)

What I remember about this moment was that I had just gotten the courage to pet Duma, and he had just started purring, and it had scared the shit out of me. (A cheetah's purr sounds alarmingly like a growl.) But all he wanted was more petting. Pretty soon he was rubbing his head against me, like a domesticated tabby. It was one of the great encounters of my life.

Years later, I discovered that the owners of the ranch had written this book about Duma:

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