Aligning with Grace

In the last year, I have managed to cross three things off of my bucket list, in this order: 1. Visit Israel 2. Drink a bottle of Petrus, and 3. See Oprah For nearly 20 years a friend and I have sought to get tickets to "The Oprah Show" show or various of her venues, albeit unsuccessfully. But when Elizabeth Gilbert, of "Eat Pray Love" fame mentioned in her newsletter she would be part of an Oprah weekend and that tickets could be had before they were released to the general public, my friend and I jumped on the bandwagon without the slightest hesitation! And it did not disappoint, though we nearly waited a half year to attend! Oprah's "Live the Life You Want" event was perfectly planned and orchestrated and it was a marvel to be with 25,000 other similarly positive individuals and her "trailblazers" - the extraordinary teachers that accompanied her on this tour: Elizabeth Gilbert, Rob Bell, Mark Nepo, and Iyanla Vanzant. It was ...

Today, I excitedly, and quite spontaneously, accompanied a friend to one of the first showings of Eat, Pray, Love . This is one of those rare books that has spoken to me on many different levels, and I have read and re-read it every year since it's publication - even before it became the wildly popular memoir it now is - and before anyone really knew anything about it. I was divinely led to pick it up off a shelf, enthralled by its cover and title, encompassing three of the most significant interests in my life! But today, I just as easily lost myself in the exquisite adaptation of this work, and the film did not disappoint on any level. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment! The movie was lush, visually stunning, filled with wonderful gems of wisdom and insight, and it contained beautiful portrayals of some of the most poignant moments in the book. Just a week ago, I had students participating in my "Yoga of Forgiveness" class read a section of the book, where the author, El...