Eat Pray Love? Meet, Sweet Gray Glove.

I had recently returned to San Francisco in January of 2008 to find myself more alone than I had ever been in my life. 3,000 miles away from everyone and anyone, I began to learn the streets of the city with solo steps. I had decided to live in San Francisco because I had been cast in "Tony N Tina's Wedding", a casting choice which forced me to leap into the unknown and leave the comforts of the east coast; however, as our rehearsals didn't begin until February, I had one month to endure alone. As I didn't have any companions around, I took to my old habit of befriending my books. Each night after work, I went home to my sublet and made relationships with literature.


One of the books that happened my way that winter was Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat Pray Love". Perhaps it was my endless solitude, perhaps it was because I was trying to get over a heartbreak, perhaps I just really needed someone to understand me, but I found a peace within those pages. A humorous emotional lady out on a soul search of her own, trying to find happiness in unconventional settings, and learning how to love herself along the journey. In any case, I felt as though she sang a familiar tune and I longed to create harmony.

These past few days haven't been the easiest and I've found myself in a similar place to the Ashley of 2008. On the cusp of something just out of reach, fearful to both move forward and stay still. Thankfully, I have some additional comforts now; the most important being the presence of my sister, Katelyn. The person I admire most in the world and who forces me to be a better and stronger lady by simply existing. And tonight she got me out of sulking at home and met me for dinner and a movie.

Egg Salad sandwiches, a white cherry icee, and some split donuts. If that's not the definition of eat, pray, love, what is? I snuggled into the dark theater wearing my gray fingerless gloves made by my sister and tried to get lost in movie world. While the film isn't totally a cinematic achievement for our time, it is a sweet representation of the book and made for an enjoyable evening. As we longed for the sites of faraway places and Julia's pretty wavy locks we caught a 38 bus and made our ways home.

One of the questions that struck me tonight from the film though was idea of picking one word to capture your essence. One word that defines your life. One word to share with the world. I'm still thinking about what mine would be, but I'd love to know what word you would pick for yourselves. To see if, perhaps, our words can form a story. So, let's try it. What would your word be? Once upon a time...