Morgan Creekmore- Outside Reading

Over the summer, I read "Eat, Pray, Love" which tells the story of a woman's pilgrimage after a rough divorce. Her pilgrimage was very different from a trail like the AT, but the ideas of communion and communitas play an important role in her pilgrimage. Elizabeth is always moving around 3 different countries, so in order to find her place with the people in each country she eats their foods. Just like on the AT, she finds friends by sharing meals with them. Also, she goes through several states of liminality. She is having a very hard time finding out who she is because of her divorce and her different experiences in each country. She finds it extremely difficult to drop the identity she has formed with her husband and that makes it hard for her to find peace in each place; this is her state of liminality. In the end, she finally overcomes her former identity and assumes another, this is when she drops all former doubts about herself and finds peace in life. It's very interesting to read because throughout the book, her diary acts as another voice in the story, helping us to understand the changes the main character is undergoing.