I get that I am still in my drink, beg, f**k stage, but…

Limbs – I’m going out on one. I spent the entire summer after my graduation from college reading Eat, Pray, Love. I spent a month between India and Bali, mustering up the stomach to finish it. Please understand first that there were parts of this book that I found genuinely enjoyable. Please also understand that this book is so far from my experience – I’ve never been married, I’ve never been in love (by my own estimation), and I’ve never been in any sort of relationship that fueled anything other than resentment or ambivalence. I spent my entire four years of college “soul-searching” and most of the time since learning to be myself by myself, which I now understand is something many women don’t feel they are allowed to do. I went to Italy by myself and just kind of did the damn thing. I suppose that is why I don’t really understand the need to force one’s self to do this, and after experiencing this story as both a book and a movie, I realize how lucky that makes me. I’ve read many reviews and testimonials about this book and the way women have experienced it, but there is one thing I’ve never seen written about it. This is a story about a woman who is profoundly unable to be alone.

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