#22 – On why I love Elizabeth Gilbert

*cue hardcore fangirling*

Hello friends,

July is almost upon us! This month brings many things to celebrate, but there is one day that is particularly special, and that is the birthday of the one and only

Elizabeth Gilbert

!

So, in honour of the Queen’s upcoming birthday on July 18, I’d like to share with you why I love Liz so much.

My first entry point into Liz's world was her iconic memoir Eat, Pray, Love (EPL). I read it just when I was starting to study English seriously, and even as a second language learner who was not confident in my English back then, I understood most of it immediately. More than anything, I had one thought throughout the entire time I was reading EPL. And it is one of the main reasons I fell in love with her writing so much. That thought is: THIS WOMAN IS HOLDING NOTHING BACK.

Liz is one of those writers who magically and seamlessly weaves a golden, invisible thread between her words and the reader’s heart. As a reader of EPL, I felt like I was seeing her soul laid bare, an access and a privilege that is granted with such openness and trust. Upon encountering anyone’s earnest vulnerability, I only have one response that is instinctive and instantaneous. That response is: I want to protect this person’s heart with every fiber of my being, and I don’t want this person to ever experience anything bad in life ever again (which, you know, is not possible), but that is always my immediate response.

So because Liz was so open-hearted and vulnerable in EPL, it was truly love at first read. She does not shy away from sharing her own weaknesses, which helps me to feel like it is not a sin to be struggling. She just makes me feel like it is okay to be a human. And that is sometimes exactly what I need. Not a pep talk, not even inspiration, not persuasion, not dissuasion. Just that it is okay. Just that it is okay to be a human.

Ever since I started reading Liz’s words in the early 2010s, her books, articles, videos, podcasts, and quotes have been finding their way into my life, for some reason, even when I was not actively making any effort on my part (one may call it algorithm, but I call it sign). She is one of those writers whose every word I read. I have read every single book she has released, and I have watched every interview I could find. At this point, I think of Liz Gilbert as one of my literary fairy godmothers (although I’ve never told her or anyone about this, up until now).

I only met Liz once in real life – in Toronto in April 2023. She was inspiring, eloquent and wise (none of these is surprising). But one thing I have not fully realized until then is how *very* funny she is. Throughout her talk, Liz was dropping truth zingers right, left and center as if she were standing in the middle of a Roman piazza and tossing bagful of coins into a fountain. While she is dealing with such profound subjects, she is able to keep it so lighthearted that I found myself laughing and chuckling the entire time I was listening to her. Such is the power of this woman! If Liz had not already been a gigantically successful author, she could’ve easily become a gigantically successful comedian!

The thing about Liz is just when you think she is an ordinary person, you realize she is extraordinary. But when you think she is so-high-above-the-clouds and untouchable-like-an-angel, she shares something about herself that feels deeply vulnerable and unmistakably human. I guess what I am trying to say is: She is a human. She is a mystery. She feels like a mystic.

Above all, perhaps the most potent reason I love her is because I sense this spiritual hunger in her – this desire for the infinite and longing for the divine. I relate to her so deeply because this very same hunger is in me too. At the end of the day, I’m a seeker more than anything else, and I am just so happy knowing that another fellow human being like Liz is out there in this world on this path of a seeker. Wandering, seeking, longing and living to tell the tale of it.

It’s a strange thing, how human connections work. I don’t know how any of this works. All I know is that I FREAKING LOVE LIZ GILBERT and I am so very grateful that she is the person that she is. Because the person that she is is the person who is needed in this world.

Thank you, Liz, for being so incandescently yourself. Long Live the Queen!!!

Love all the way! Light all the way! Liz all the way!

PS: Did you know that Liz’s go-to karaoke songs are “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart”? The ONLY reason I know this is because someone asked her about it in the Q&A session after her talk in Toronto last year. As someone who (sometimes) sings both of these songs loudly and poorly while sitting alone in my bedroom, I inherently trust a person with this kind of music taste.

PPS: If you’ve not already subscribed to Liz’s Substack letter

Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert

, I wholeheartedly believe that today is the absolute perfect day to subscribe!

Here is a picture of me hugging Liz in Toronto in April 2023. I know I posted this before, but here I am yet again :)

Thank you, as always, for reading! Have a beautiful and creative day!

Liz Gilbert and me in April 2023. Photo credit: Rabbat Photography.