The Dithering of a District Diva

Liz Gilbert at 6&I Synagogue, January 7, 2010

Anyone who has spoken to me since November 2009 knows that I am ridiculously obsessed with the author Elizabeth Gilbert and her book Eat Pray Love. So it should come as no surprise that when I found out Liz Gilbert was giving a book talk at 6th & I Synagogue on January 7, 2010, I immediately determined that there was no place else in the world that I could be on that date than inside my very first synagogue.

The doors were opening at 6, so I made sure to get there by 5:30, and to my pleasant surprise, I was only third in line. As it got closer to 6, however, a giant mass of estrogen had wrapped around 6th street. The doors opened at 6 and nearly 1000 people descended onto the place. (Admittedly, most all of them were women or gay men, although I did see one brave guy desperately clinging to his girlfriend).

I ran to grab a seat front and center, like I always did in school, anxious and excited to hear what she had left to teach me. (As if she could change my life any more).

As it turns out, there was plenty left to learn from her.

While I waited for the book talk to begin, I ended up reading the first 30 pages of her second book, Committed, in which she grapples with marriage and commitment after finding love. I loved the introduction and was so engrossed in it that I barely noticed when a lady sat down in the reserved row in front of me. Her blonde hair was pulled back into some kind of bun with a million little black clips in it. I studied the style for awhile, trying to figure out if her hair was done that way on purpose, or if she was in such a hurry to come see Liz that she said “to hell with it,” and just came as she was, like I did.

The host introduced Liz and suddenly, the blonde head with the millions of black clips jumped up and ascended the stairway to the podium. I–and the lady beside me–said, “Oooh,” in unison, with our heads cocked to one side, but soon recovered and joined the crowd in thunderous applause.

She was dressed simply with no make-up. She was raw and honest in appearance–just like her writing–and I couldn’t help but be struck with jealousy at how free she seemed.

She started the talk with a simple plea: “Ladies…and gentlemen, if you’re out there, I have one request. And I’ve never ever asked this of anyone at a book talk before, but if you can all please, please, please, go out and buy yourself a copy of Committed, buy your friends, your parents, your daughters, everyone a copy this week. And it’s not because I’m so concerned with first week sales, I’m not, I just really, really, really want to knock Sarah Palin off the #1 spot.

(THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE FROM THE AUDIENCE)

I knew I loved this woman.

*********

She began by reading the introduction to Committed, which I had already read at that point, but enjoyed nonetheless, and could even pick out the sections that she had skipped over. The crowd laughed along with her (yes, she laughed at her own story) and I loved seeing her react to the crowd as if she still couldn’t believe that 1,000 people packed the pews of a synagogue in the middle of the District just to see her and laugh at her jokes, even though Eat Pray Love was an international bestseller.

After the reading was the part I came for: the Q&A. One would think I would have been the first up to the mic to ask a question, especially since I was right up front next to the microphone, but I just had nothing meaningful to ask. All the questions I might have had were already answered in the book or on her website or probably in the new book. But the lack of meaningful questions did not stop those who did pile up to the microphone. Some people asked dumb questions (i.e. “What advice do you have for someone about to marry a man from a different culture?” Uhhh, perhaps figure out if you want to do it before you say yes?) But there were also very meaningful questions. The one about gay marriage sticks out because her answer was so simple: “it’s coming,” yet so well put together. She explained the constitutionality of it–which, as a law grad, I loved– the common sense of it, and the inevitability of it. And I had to agree and applaud, religious beliefs aside.

Another asked her advice for young writers just starting out: be honest, tell your truth the only way you can. Know your audience before you even begin to write. There will always be a demand for a good story, so never be discouraged. Perfect your craft.

I ate it up. I must do it! I thought. I started to think of all the books I have written in my head and how best to get at least one of them on paper. I even got a little discouraged by the reminder that my 2009 new year’s resolution was to be published by 25. It’s only January…I’ve still got seven months…

“Your goal should be to get published by the time your dead.” The crowd laughed, and I relaxed. I’ve been living my whole life on a schedule: B.A. by 20, Law school by 23, married by 24, Published by 25, two kids by 28…geez. Two out of five aint bad.

And so I set a new goal that night: become published by the time I’m dead. Find a good story and write it. Since I have no discretion anyway (see the majority of the posts on this blog), being “raw and honest” wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

But she did give me more direction for the book I am currently writing: seek wisdom from the experience of others. Though I am not nearly as enthralled in Committed as I was in Eat Pray Love, she definitely had the right idea by doing her research, a somewhat different approach than with her last book. She said she wrote the book that she wished someone had given to her at 25 when she got married. Committed is not the book I need at 24, and perhaps I will find it more useful when I’m ready to think about maybe biting the bullet and selling my soul to another person…but I definitely intend to write that book that I need now at 24.

*******

Those of my readers who have soldiered through my 2,500-word blog posts can easily imagine that I am quite the talker. Yet, when I met Liz and had her sign both of my books and then took three pictures with her, all I could manage to say was: “Thank you, so much. Thank you, so much. Thank you, so much.” I screamed at myself: say something else, you fool! “Your book changed my life, your work matters, Read these blog posts I wrote about you, something!!” But I just couldn’t think of a thing to say. My original plan was to print out my Ode to Liz blog post and give it to her, but for some reason, I just didn’t do it.

But she said, “awww” in response to the message that I wrote in the back of Eat Pray Love: “Thank you! 11/20/09” And she signed a heart and her name underneath it. That was special.

*********

One thousand people seems an astronomical number to me. I cannot imagine touching 1,000 people. But if, through bearing my own soul and sharing my own journey, I can impact one person the way Liz Gilbert has impacted me, then that alone is motivation enough to keep writing. And never stop. I wish I had at least told her that much.

Comments

comments