{"id":21,"date":"2010-08-12T15:11:35","date_gmt":"2010-08-12T15:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/08\/eat-pray-love-do-you-need-to-travel-to-find-inspiration.html"},"modified":"2010-08-12T15:11:35","modified_gmt":"2010-08-12T15:11:35","slug":"eat-pray-love-do-you-need-to-travel-to-find-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/08\/eat-pray-love-do-you-need-to-travel-to-find-inspiration.html","title":{"rendered":"Eat, Pray, Love: Do You Need to Travel to Find Inspiration?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The film “Eat Pray Love<\/a>,” based on the lovely book by the
\nsame name, is about to be released. The common question that arises is “do you
\nhave to travel and experience exotic people and places to re-inspire your
\nlife?” The question feels very pressing and pointed for me since my last book,
\nReturn to the Sacred, was all about travel and spiritual growth. Furthermore, I
\nactively promote the idea that travel can heal and inspire and still run
\nretreats to places like Southern Africa, India, and Mexico, and I am even
\ngiving away free trips<\/a> along with the release of my new book. It would seem I
\nam convinced that travel is where it’s at.<\/p>\n

The irony, of course, is that I am now a married man, with a
\nsmall child, a big dog, two jobs and a heavy mortgage and there is no way I’ll
\nbe taking a year alone to visit a guru or medicine man overseas. Yet when I
\nlook back at what I learned from travel and witnessing the travel-based
\nawakenings of others, I can see two things clearly: 1. Yes, travel can change
\nyou, 2: the most important aspect of travel, is applying what you learned to
\nyour everyday life – and that means that keeping your life inspired is really a
\nday to day choice. You absolutely don’t <\/i>need to leave home to find yourself
\nagain. <\/p>\n

One of the key messages in Inspiration Deficit Disorder<\/a> is
\nthat inspiration is most powerful when it is rooted at home in our simple daily
\nchoices. Do you surround yourself with positive and empowering people? Do you
\ntreat others with the patience and kindness you’d like? Do you use your spare
\ntime to do what you love and what nurtures you, or do you allow yourself to be
\noverwhelmed by obligation? Are you focused on negative media, or on being a
\npositive influence in the world? These are all choices within your control.<\/p>\n

When we look at the sense of despair that hangs over this
\nnation as we review our employment, political, environmental and social
\nstatistics it’s easy to turn our attention to blame and a desire to escape, but
\nreal joy and balance come from the simple things: look after your health by
\neating well, resting enough and getting some exercise; look after your
\nrelationships by spending meaningful time with those you love; and look after
\nyour heart by giving yourself permission to have a weekly hobby or recreation
\nthat feels renewing. <\/p>\n

Inspiration is a choice. What do you <\/i>choose?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The film “Eat Pray Love,” based on the lovely book by the same name, is about to be released. The common question that arises is “do you have to travel and experience exotic people and places to re-inspire your life?” The question feels very pressing and pointed for me since my last book, Return to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[6,27,18,51,50],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-inspiration","tag-inspiration-deficit-disorder","tag-jonathan-ellerby","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-travel"],"yoast_head":"\nEat, Pray, Love: Do You Need to Travel to Find Inspiration? - Practical Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/08\/eat-pray-love-do-you-need-to-travel-to-find-inspiration.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eat, Pray, Love: Do You Need to Travel to Find Inspiration? - Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The film “Eat Pray Love,” based on the lovely book by the same name, is about to be released. 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