For women in search of meaning after a bad breakup, Eat, Pray, Love was the 2006 memoir that gave them hope and reminded them that life and self exist outside of marriage and relationships. After divulging the details of how she coped after her first divorce in the bestselling book, author Elizabeth Gilbert and her new husband are separating — and she is once again sharing her feelings and words of inspiration with fans after their split.
You may recall that in the memoir, Gilbert travels to Italy (to eat), India (to pray) and Indonesia (to love — not that she went with the intention of finding love). It was on this last leg of her journey that she met José Nunes, a Brazilian importer whom she called Felipe in her memoir, and who was played by Javier Bardem in the 2010 film starring Julia Roberts. The two married in 2007 and, for nearly 10 years, the couple owned an Asian import business.
But, hey, look, it didn’t work out and that’s OK — at least, that’s the message Gilbert tried to get across to fans via a sweet post on Facebook:
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Gilbert ended her post by linking to a poem by Jack Gilbert that begins:
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I love the idea that we should stop considering failed relationships a mistake. Every moment we’re with someone is a learning experience that we can then use to help guide us, hopefully, to make choices that are better for us. Not to mention that people often change, and there’s no guarantee our partner is going to be willing or able to follow us on our journey. With her positive attitude, Gilbert will get through this and inspire others in her position to do the same. Let’s hope this means another Eat, Pray, Love is in Gilbert’s (and our) future.
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