Friday, June 5, 2009

Lucy Silag´s Guest Post: New Leases on Life

I'm a real sucker for those stories about people who got a new lease on life somehow, either by miraculously surviving a near-death situation or by simply letting go of something that was holding them back.

The sparks that set afire my plans to shift my own day-to-day reality came from the bestselling book EAT, PRAY, LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert. I hung onto every word of this hugely popular memoir as if it were a suspense thriller. I was right there with Liz for every roller coaster moment through Italy, India, and Bali. At the time I picked up this book, the puzzle pieces of my own life weren't fitting together very comfortably. Even though I was young and healthy with a great family and wonderful friends, I felt stuck for some reason. Reading Liz's story made me feel a little braver about making some changes--namely, quitting my job and leaving New York to become a full-time writer.

I took the book manuscript I'd been spending nights and weekends writing and sent it off to an agent. I was hoping the project I'd been working on as a hobby would be something I could grow into a career. With a lot more work and some very necessary letting go, BEAUTIFUL AMERICANS was indeed what knocked me into a beautiful, creative space and a daily life that just feels better. Apartment in Paris, anyone?

I challenge you to read or listen to any of the following and not feel like you don't have another minute to waste in this life! Some are very serious, others not so much.

*Ed Gavagan, Victim's Impact, The Moth podcast

*Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion, by Sara Miles

*This American Life #104: Music Lessons, specifically, the essay read by Anne Lamott about the miracles she witnessed on board an extremely turbulent flight, and also at her church.

*Pretty Is What Changes: Impossible Choices, the Breat Cancer Gene, and How I Defied My Destiny by Jessica Queller

What´s your favorite book that inspired you to change your perspective?

-Lucy Silag
from Lisbon, Portugal
www.lucysilag.com

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