What I would have done for Elizabeth Gilbert’s 200K Advance

Eat Pray Love’s author, Elizabeth Gilbert, was already a many-times-over published writer when her publisher provided her with a $200,000 advance to write the famous non-fiction novel-turned-Julia Roberts box office hit.  I don’t know about you, but no one was furnishing me with $200K to document my soul searching when I was going through a divorce.  I was looking to rent a room somewhere and start my own business from scratch right out of grad school.  I was eating, praying and “loving” on a very different budget in a solitary zip code.

If I had been in E.G.’s situation, with a writer’s pen and lots of dough, I may considered traveling the world to find myself again too.  Instead, I was finding myself through trade in San Diego, California.  I myself was now a licensed healer-acupuncturist.  I found a master healer (a chiropractor/wizard/buddha) who offered to mentor me.  He had gone through multiple divorces and many other hardships.  This master had taken every healing course of study, cleanse, health treatment available on this earth and he shared with me the growth experienced at each turn.  Naturally, I sought after that growth so I asked for his aid.  He had connections with a myriad of other healers who came to him for treatment.  He offered to connect me with them to attend their seminars, workshops and healing treatments.  In return, I worked at his office as an acupuncturist, assistant and sometimes even front desk person.  The education I was getting was not cheap.

I learned about Bach Flower therapy, homeopathy, yoga, chiropractic care, Neuro-emotional technique (NET) and blood chemistry analysis.  I had astrology readings, massages, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, colonics, Tarot card readings, facials, live blood scans, brain wave analysis, music therapy and life coaching from the most sought after healers in the world.  My greatest gift was the chance to be present in his own practice and see the transformations his patients experienced.  It was truly magical.  I gained the most insight in seeing the physical, mental and emotional trials of the patients.  These patients were some of the most powerful, wealthy and influential people in the world.

I have always known that we see most people with their mask on.  The truth of life is that everyone has so many layers of joy and pain.  Seeing these layers revealed to me hundreds of times over taught me that true healing starts with feeling.  You can heal anything.  The trick is to start feeling.  My teacher’s greatest wisdom was, “you’ve gotta feel it to heal it.”  That doesn’t cost a thing.  I didn’t need Elizabeth Gilbert’s $200,000.  I needed people to show me I could heal myself by feeling my feelings.  I used my gifts of knowledge to heal my own patients and myself.

(photo by Miryam Zarzar via Flickr)