Embed from Getty Images
Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat Pray Love, has an interview with NY Mag’s The Cut for their “How I Get it Done” feature, which I’ve mentioned many times that I love. I’m really into schedules, routines and planning and love to learn the habits of successful people. Elizabeth has been open and very over the top about her relationships. The last time we covered her she was waxing poetic about how awesome her new boyfriend is and how happy and in love she is, a year after losing her girlfriend to cancer. (She dumped her husband for her best friend, but that’s another story.) That sounds decent on the surface but she has a very hoaky, cloying style of writing and comes across as self-obsessed. That’s her brand I guess, but I end up rolling my eyes whenever I read something from her. So I was surprised to actually enjoy this interview, probably because she talks like a normal person and not the way she writes. Elizabeth wakes up at 5, which is when I wake up too, she loves to dance (me too!) and she takes two to three short baths a day, which seems a little strange to me. They are relaxing and meditative for her, and she does short meditations as well.

She wakes up at 5am when she’s writing
When I am [writing a book], my day is very simple. I get up at 4:30 or 5 a.m. and I write nonstop until midmorning. Then I spend the rest of the day staring at a wall because my brain is like a fried egg. I’ll have an early dinner and an early bedtime, by 7 or 8 p.m., and I’ll do it again the next day and the next until the book’s finished. It’s a very militaristic thing, the early hours. But I really want to be uninterrupted and the world doesn’t wake up in a way that bothers you till about 9 a.m.

She loves dancing
I started dancing every morning as part of my grief recovery plan about a year ago. I will put on my upbeat dance mix and I’ll hit shuffle and I’ll dance to whatever comes up. It just seems to be a really good way to move energy through your body and start the day.

Why she posted about her new boyfriend
Sometimes I use social media to share certain things because, frankly, it makes my life easier. I recently posted that I was seeing somebody — more than seeing somebody, that I loved somebody — largely because I’m out in the world a lot in public, and I would much rather tell you who I’m with than have people speculating and gossiping.

She’s a very light packer
My great gift from God is my ability to pack lightly. I’m a fascist about trying not to check luggage. My greatest packing achievement ever was a seven-week-long trip that involved three countries, a wedding, a book tour, speaking at a TED conference, and a range of temperatures from Vancouver in the winter to Santiago in the summer. And I did it all in a carry-on. The magic trick is to figure out the shoes. If you only bring two pairs of shoes, you can wear one pair on the plane and bring the other pair in your suitcase, and of course black is the answer.

She loves baths
I take two or three baths a day. Baths are a big part of my mental health. It’s like, “Ah, I’m stressed. I’m scared. I’ve got 20 minutes, so I’m going to take a really quick bath and read a novel and disconnect.” I’m not a bath-salts person or anything. It’s a snap treatment when you don’t have time to go away.

[From NY Mag]

Again, she sounds kind of relatable in this interview, as opposed to the drivel she writes. I wonder how people who write like that get published. Note to writers – write the way you speak. Cut the extra words, cut the pretension and strive to be readable. I know I don’t always succeed at this, but I practice every day. Getting back to Elizabeth, her schedule is enviable, I agree about waking up at 5, and if I was more of a bath person I think fitting in two to three twenty minute baths would be easier than taking a full hour one. That’s how I am with exercise. It’s easier to do little workouts throughout the day than block off a whole hour. As for her packing skills, I’m not like that at all. I need an entire large suitcase for a week of travel. I want fashion options and all my toiletries.

Gilbert is promoting her new book, City of Girls.

A post shared by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on May 8, 2019 at 6:43am PDT

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images