~ Written by Danielle N. Bilski ~
On Wednesday my mum and I went to the cinemas to see ‘Eat, Prey, Love’ based on the novel by Elizabeth Gilbert. We had both read the novel a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when we found out that it was being made into a movie starring the one and only Julia Roberts we vowed to go and see it together.
Julia Roberts was fantastic as Liz, the scenes set in Italy, India and Bali were exquisite and Ketut the Medicine Man was gorgeous! I was thoroughly inspired not only by the movie but by the whole journey that Elizabeth Gilbert has been on, from the enlightenment and self-reflection, writing and publishing a novel and now having one of the world’s biggest actresses bring her story to life on-screen for the world to see.
I just Googled Elizabeth Gilbert and came across a page on her own website which I found to be a great insight into her writing journey. This is the link to the entire article http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm in which she says, “I believe that – if you are serious about a life of writing, or indeed about any creative form of expression – that you should take on this work like a holy calling. I became a writer the way other people become monks or nuns. I made a vow to writing, very young. I became Bride-of-Writing. I was writing’s most devotional handmaiden. I built my entire life around writing. I didn’t know how else to do this. I didn’t know anyone who had ever become a writer. I had no, as they say, connections. I had no clues. I just began.” (Elizabeth Gilbert, http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm, accessed 30th October 2010)
I find this most intriguing because as mum and I were leaving the cinemas on Wednesday, I said something to her like “I want ‘My Time with You’ to be made into a movie one day.” She agreed that it would be amazing and she said she couldn’t see why it couldn’t happen, if the right connections were made.
The next words that came out of my mouth was “writing is my life.” Mum said “writing is not who you are, it’s what you do” which was a similar line to one we had just heard in ‘Eat, Prey, Love’. “Writing is who I am,” I replied, saying “it is what makes me who I am.”
Having said that, sometimes words aren’t enough to express the most profound feelings and experiences.
I knew what mum meant; that I am more than my writing. However I truly believe that the person I am and aspire to be comes out most clearly through the words that I write. Like a musical instrument, I am the avenue through which the song (my writing) is produced and without it, what would I be. Whether you agree or not, I believe I would be less of myself without the ability to express what I feel, know and see and instead of making the most of every experience and being grateful for the lessons I have learned, I would be constantly searching for fulfillment and meaning which I find eternally in my words and the actual physical action of creative writing.
I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am a grand daughter. I am a niece and a cousin. I am a girlfriend. I am a co-worker. I am a friend. I am Danielle N. Bilski and I am a writer. No matter what else I choose to with my time, I am all of these things beyond my words, but without my words I wouldn’t be much more than what I am to someone else in my life. As a writer, I am something more to myself than I have ever been and the fact that I can share this time with you and those other people in my life is heartwarming.
I write for me. I am humbled when someone reads what I have written.
I see myself how I want to be. I can only hope that through my writing, you can see me too.
Beyond my words there is meaning, love, passion and hope. May you find all of these things in your own life and when you do, inspire others to do the same. The answers are all there inside of you; you just have to let yourself see them.
More than words, but less without them,
My Time with You ©2010 Danielle N. Bilski