Eat Pray Love

I know this movie didn't exactly do as well as expected in the theaters, but being a Julia Roberts fan, and seeing that it was on sale for $8.00 at the Redbox at the grocery store last night, I decided to purchase it. I took the movie home, and after making what I found to be a delicious meal, (unfortunately, I have to thank Rachel Ray even though I find her show to be increasingly annoying every time I watch it) I decided to pop it in.

Even though the film did have a few weak points, (i.e. character relationship development) I still found myself very connected to the main character, played by Julia. The movie opens with the main character (Julia) living in New York ending her marriage. In order to cope, she throws herself into a relationship with a struggling, guru-obsessed yogi played by James Franco. Obviously, that relationship suffers quickly and Julia finds herself in a state of turmoil. In order to find a way to feel again and learn about herself she decides to take a trip around the world for one year. She travels to Italy to eat, India to pray and Bali to unintentionally fall in love again.

Now, anyone that knows me could guess that this is not exactly a parallel to my own life but there are parts that I felt very connected to when watching. I admired Julia for taking that leap of faith - being a highly-independent control-freak myself I can appreciate the magnitude of picking up her life and moving across the world without a plan. I also sympathized with the need to find oneself in a world that constantly strips us of our balance. But mostly, I connected with the need to feel again - to feel full and satisfied. I think it's something that we all struggle with at times, or perhaps most of the time. Maybe that yearning to feel is what drives us to kill ourselves at jobs we don't love, force relationships that aren't meant to be and try every new Hollywood craze that Us Weekly chirps about. Or, maybe it's just me narcissistically trying to connect to Julia Roberts on some level since I did hear that she really enjoyed making the film :) Whatever it is, it got me thinking of my next step to feeling full and since I can't exactly afford to fly to Italy right now (or India, or Bali) perhaps spaghetti for dinner will serve as a good start. :)