What is your WORD???
I am reading this book, "Eat, Pray and Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I have fewer words than I could use to express how inspiring I found this book. Thankfully, a practical, non-preaching "work-for-yourself" book. But, some other post for eulogies about the book. For now, I want to write about a thought that has made me reflect in a profound way.
From the book:
There is a philosophical dialog in the book between Gilbert and her friend, where her friend suggests that every city—and every person—has a word. Rome’s is “sex,” the Vatican’s “power”; Gilbert suggests New York’s to be “achieve,” and "LA's to be "Success". The point that is being made here is that it is the alignment of your "word" and the "word" of city (or another person, work place etc) that decides whether you belong there or not. For example, however much Gilbert liked Rome, she never felt belonged there. And later, realized that "Sex" was not at all her "word" during the time.
In my life:
Lately, I had started feeling very dis-oriented in some friend circles and I was trying to find an answer as to what could be wrong. This and many more personal experiences can very well be explained by personal "Word". How well will we do where we live, or with friends we meet. Realizing this personal "word" will take some time but, if I were to identify one now, a strong contender would be "Career". That explains that I will feel the most comfortable in surroundings that talk or enthuse me about my career. These are the places where I can very well relate to or people who I find most comfortable with - all the time commonly linked through the representative "Word". Can there be a word that is true for a lifetime?
So, what is your word. Think about it !
From the book:
There is a philosophical dialog in the book between Gilbert and her friend, where her friend suggests that every city—and every person—has a word. Rome’s is “sex,” the Vatican’s “power”; Gilbert suggests New York’s to be “achieve,” and "LA's to be "Success". The point that is being made here is that it is the alignment of your "word" and the "word" of city (or another person, work place etc) that decides whether you belong there or not. For example, however much Gilbert liked Rome, she never felt belonged there. And later, realized that "Sex" was not at all her "word" during the time.
In my life:
Lately, I had started feeling very dis-oriented in some friend circles and I was trying to find an answer as to what could be wrong. This and many more personal experiences can very well be explained by personal "Word". How well will we do where we live, or with friends we meet. Realizing this personal "word" will take some time but, if I were to identify one now, a strong contender would be "Career". That explains that I will feel the most comfortable in surroundings that talk or enthuse me about my career. These are the places where I can very well relate to or people who I find most comfortable with - all the time commonly linked through the representative "Word". Can there be a word that is true for a lifetime?
So, what is your word. Think about it !
Labels: Philosophy
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on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 at 9:43 PM.
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8:53 PMHmm... This is a very interesting thought. Loved it! :)
And (I speak for myself when I say that) I don't think there can be a single Word which is true for a person's lifetime. Of course, there are Words like love, trust etc. which form the base of every other Word. But at every stage in life, I believe one would have a more specific Word. Like you mentioned Career as being the Word which comes closest for you presently.
So I guess we all have one or more Primary Words throughout our lifetime (Hope, for example) which are kinda intangible. And these Primary Words supplement the Secondary ones which are more specific in nature and belong to a particular stage of life (Career, for example).
For instance: one Primary Word for me is: Passion- being passionate for anything that I choose to be a part of. If I am not passionate about it- I won't be involved in it. So if I am involved, then I will give it my best! :)
Cheers!
Priyanka.
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