If you’re like me, you get a warm feeling when you read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook posts. She is a true role-model – not simply because she is a successful New York Times best-selling author, but because her she is constantly examining what success really means for her.
Whether she’s sharing her rituals, her favorite moments, her missteps, her lessons learned (and relearned) on the path to authentic success, she does it with an endlessly endearing sense of humor about herself that is so totally relatable it feels like it’s coming from a best-loved big sister.
As the clean slate of the New Year approaches, and New Year’s resolutions lists loom large on our social media feeds, I find tremendous comfort in the Grace&Fire podcast conversation we had before the first Emerging Women Live. Here are some of the things Liz said that stand out as I begin to gently shape my intentions for 2015:
“Curiosity is given to you, but your response is your job, and whether you take responsibility for that curiosity is your job.”
“I think that destiny is a kind of contract between human beings and the Mystery. Things are put before you, situations occur, and then you decide what’s going to be made of it.”
“Instead of forging forward into the vast forest with no idea where you’re going, go back a mile…
When was the last time something felt inspiring to you? When was the last time something was exciting to you? Return to that and then be gentle with it. Don’t take it by the neck and try to interrogate answers from it about what you’re supposed to do. Go back to that spot and sniff around. Put your hand on the ground, feel where it was warm, and see if there’s a little small overlooked clue near there that you somehow missed.”
“I think everyone is trying to play the grand, final scene of the big opera, but really, it’s the scavenger hunt that’s the most interesting…
Eyes on the ground, looking for that four-leaf clover, looking for that little scrap of paper hidden under the next rock, trying to find the clue. Because it is just a series of very small, almost invisible clues. And there’s a level of trust that develops where you just believe.”
Happy New Year, everyone! We wish you joy and an inner knowing on your path to authentic success!
To listen to the full Grace&Fire podcast conversation, just click here: “Elizabeth Gilbert – Creative Curiosity: Discovering Wisdom in the Details of Our Lives”
OR Download the EW App to listen to all of our Grace&Fire podcasts on the go: For iPhone click HERE. For Android click HERE.
Want even more Elizabeth Gilbert? Join us for EWLive15 where she’ll share not only a keynote speech, but an intimate onstage conversation with Brené Brown. We can’t wait! Reserve your space in the inner circle now.
