Eat Pray Love

                My eyes burst open suddenly, and for an instant I wondered what had awakened me. Then I turned over on the couch and saw Trina standing over a broken bowl- the third this month, I swear. I rolled my eyes, turned back over, and tried my best to pretend I was still in a drunken, sleeping stupor as an excuse to let the clumsy excuse for a roommate clean up after herself. I tried to grasp at memories of the night before; I had some feeling that I did something highly important, but grasping at thoughts muffled by a bottle of wine was like trying to find a hipster at a Justin Bieber concert.

                I waited for the booming echo of glass being dragged across the linoleum and the slam of our tiny apartment’s front door before rolling back to my side, still deep in thought. I saw the dvd case sitting on my coffee table, and slowly the memories and my resolve started drifting back, making ripples rage through my brain.

                Eat Pray Love. It was one of those movies I didn’t even think I owned, but being temporarily locked out of Trina’s Netflix account, I went digging through the boxes under my bed, pushing away movies I must have liked enough at some point to blow $20 on each, until I pulled out the hackneyed feel-good movie, shrugged, and sat down with a bottle of wine and a pint of ice cream. If I was going to be cliché, I might as well go big.

                The magical combination of strawberry cheesecake ice cream, white wine, and Julia Roberts lit a fuse in my mind, and I remembered spending much of the night plotting, dreaming, and pacing as the movie played on repeat in the background.

                My life was all wrong. Next week I was to turn 26; it was about time to get something right.

                I fumbled on the table in front of me, eventually finding the quickly scribbled list my fingers searched for. There it was, within my grasp. The list of things I dreamed of and exactly how to achieve each one. My courage faltered for a moment and I almost let myself settle back into my dreary existence I maintained for the sake of comfort, but then I looked at my disgustingly blonde hair in the mirror across from the couch, crumpled the paper, and ran to the shower.

                I hesitated with my hand on the shower handle, and then sprinted to my room to grab a pair of scissors. In the olden days, like last week, I would have carefully redressed before leaving the bathroom, but today was the start of a new me. Now I was daring, naked, and comfortable with it all. I took one last look at myself in the mirror before bringing the scissors to my eyes and hacking at the hair I detested so much, maintained by request of my so called boyfriend. If I cut it all now, I had to go to a hairdresser later to fix it. My courage mustn’t falter again.

                A quick shower, and I changed into my best dress; a small black number bought for my sister’s wedding. I ran to the nearest barber shop I knew of and let them make something of the mess I had made. Walking away, I checked a small box next to number 1 I left on my list:

1)      Do something Adam would hate to my hair

I smiled at my progress, then frowned at number two, shoving the list hastily into my bag. I decided to skip it for now, as there was no sense of me going to work on my day off simply to quit in the most dramatic way possible. I turned into a small, greasy restaurant on a corner and smirked as I thought of number three, just moments away from getting crossed off:

3)      Grow out of this stupid vegetarian phase

As I worked on that, I also started into number four:

4)      Start a blog, to freaking inspire people and shiz

As I tried to think of a name for my blog, I noticed a tall, handsome man walk through the door. Something about the way he carried himself caught my eye even more than his beautiful face, and when he noticed me staring, I was pleased to see that he smiled and stared back for a moment or two.

A quick introduction and hasty invitations, and I found myself headed to a park with the man (Piero… my heart melted at the sound) to go for a quick stroll. He complimented my hair, and I told him about Eat Pray Love and my plan to change my life.

“So like, I’m just so tired of working at a job I hate to maintain a life I hate. I mean, when does it end? When does happily ever after come?”

“You know,” Piero whispered in a voice with a surprising and slightly disappointing lack of an Italian accent, “You have a great point. I suffered through two years of college to suffer through four years of Architecture school, just to suffer through an internship and land a job I despise. I always fooled myself into thinking the next step would be better…”

“And it never is!” I practically shouted, so happy to be with someone who seemed to really understand and not just pretend to listen. “Everyone always keeps lists of what they want to do in life, right? Well, those things don’t just happen; you have to DO them.”

He slowly turned to me and asked “So… what’s next on that list of yours? How else are you changing your life today?”

I pulled out the list for good measure, not even scared to share something so personal with a stranger.

5)      Ask a stranger on a date, just on a whim

“Well, that’s easy enough,” he said as I told him “…because I was already planning on saying yes.” Before I fully comprehended what was happening, Piero was kissing me, and I was kissing him back. 

After what felt like an eternity but might have been only a few seconds, Piero pulled away, smiling. After a few blissful moments of silence, I finally whispered “Well…. What’s next on your list?”

He smirked. So Beautiful. I longed to kiss him again.

“I was thinking something along the lines of ‘hop in my car and drive far away with a stunningly beautiful and intuitive woman.’ How does that sound?”

“Perfect,” I smiled. “I think I could help you with that”

As Piero walked me to his car, I considered the possibility that he might rape and/or kill me, but I quickly tossed the thought aside and simply walked blissfully into the unknown future.

I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew it was better than where I had been.