Committed

I've always loved to read and generally have a few titles in the back of my mind that I'll check out next. In 2007, I was in a bad place in my life. I went through a bad breakup, was having health issues, hated my boss, and was a bystander in family troubles. I needed an escape and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do something I'd always wanted to, so I agreed to move to Belgium for a one-year work assignment. In the meantime, as I tend to, I turned to books. I read The Namesake, which helped me remember my childhood and let me cry profusely about someone other than myself. Then I picked up Eat, Pray, Love. It was supposed to be an easy read and (most importantly) didn't include a love story. It was exactly what I needed. Gilbert's honest, sassy voice speaking through her devastating pain about her journey of healing and finding herself again was what I was craving. And it prepared me for the journey I was about to take to Europe and in my life. Her open voice also gave me the courage to keep an honest blog about my journey.

A little less than three years later (on 12/30/09 to be exact), under the Rockefeller Tree in New York, I accepted the marriage proposal of a man who makes me laugh and already feels like home. Four days later I came down with the flu and have been stuck in my apartment since (unable to stick my gorgeous ring in the face of unsuspecting passer-bys as I’d prefer). Yesterday, I received a Tweet about the sequel to Eat, Pray, Love and downloaded it to my Kindle on instinct. I’ve already read the first three chapters of Committed and can tell she’s done it again – she’s somehow come into my life with a message that I needed at that point in my life. The book is about her journey towards marrying a man she knows she loves. Her situation is different than mine, as it was in Eat, Pray, Love and I don’t share her reservations about the institution of marriage. But it’s somehow comforting to know that she’s on this journey with me as she was on my last major one. I thought it was fitting to start a blog again as well. So welcome!