Yes….it’s getting mixed reviews. Here’s Maria’s opinion!

Eat, Pray, Love

I recently attended the preview of the movie Eat, Pray, Love with a dear friend. It was the perfect energy!

Sometimes life throws us a curve and gives us all a wake-up call, challenging us to either act, react, or do nothing. Those moments remind us that we’ve got to “get busy living or get busy dying.”

The main character, Liz Gilbert (played by Julia Roberts), realizes that her priorities changed after getting married, leading to her decision to end her marriage. Anybody looking at her life would wonder, what’s her problem? She’s got a great job, a supportive and loving husband, a home, a great family, and friends. In my opinion, she was very brave and courageous to take care of her needs.

She decides to take a year off, spending four months each in Italy, India, and Bali. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I recommend the movie. The scenery is beautiful. Italy is very familiar to me, a place I call home, and I do have Bali on my list of places to visit!

When Liz travelled to Italy, I smiled through her journey as she broke bread with new friends, eating, drinking, and living the “dolce vita.” Ahh…gaining lots of muffin tops indeed, and sharing her pain when those size 8 pants turned into a plus size (me, not Julia Roberts).

On a personal note, the movie strikes a chord for me. In my personal life, when my husband was diagnosed with cancer in August 2000, it changed my life forever. Working through grief, taking risks, re-discovering myself, and practicing mindfulness through a very difficult time now has a silver lining. I wake up each morning blessed, ready with a new appetite for food, spirituality, and passion, a new twist to my Cinderella story. My film in the making…

Stay tuned…

Maria!