Yet Another Reason Why I Love Elizabeth Gilbert...

Elizabeth Gilbert , author of the charming and insightful memoir Eat, Pray, Love, recently wrote an inspiring blog  about, well, pulling the trigger.  She wrote about taking action and abandoning the impulse, sometimes a crippling one, towards perfection. This impulse can hang us up and keep us from completing anything at times. Uh...yeah.  Been there, done that, more times than I care to admit.

She shared how she wrote all of her books by the seat of her pants and the many ways she would have tweaked, revised, improved Eat, Pray, Love and her other works. Really? The book that touched millions and millions of people's lives and hearts?? Amazing, isn't it, the way our mind, old thought patterns, and ingrained beliefs can mess with us?

So, yes. This is yet another reason why I love Elizabeth Gilbert...for being a wildly successful author and making herself vulnerable and admitting to the self-critical thoughts that she battles on a regular basis. And for offering a way out: take action, even if the end product isn't as good or, gasp!, perfect as you'd like it to be. She even quoted General George S. Patton (bold move for someone who spent time in an ashram in India): "A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week."

Writing just about anything: Facebook posts, blogs, promotional copy, a book, activates all kinds of monstrous voices in MY head. "Is this post witty enough?" "Too sappy??"  "Who am I to share advice or spiritual insights??" "Do people  really  need to read yet another blog?"

But I'm doing it anyway, if for no other reason than to push against those self-doubting voices and do the thing I feel called to do: share effective, ancient wisdom practices that support people in living healthy, enlivened, soulful, spirit-filled lives. They've helped me in countless ways over a number of years. After I meditate, practice yoga or engage in shamanic practices the critical voices are quieter and don't hook me the way they do when I'm frazzled and stressed. Maybe they can make a difference in your life? Give it a try and above all else, execute! Violently, if necessary!

P.S.  Photo above was taken in Ravello, high above the town of Amalfi in Italy.  It's a lovely town with a charming plaza and some ancient villas worth touring.   Included in the post as an homage to Liz's time in Italy.