In The Body Of The World by Eve Ensler

Eve Ensler at the restaurant Busboy and Poet!

So, you know that I love to hear authors talk about their books. I will literally track all over the DC area to hear and see an author.

I have seen Nikki Giovanni so many times in DC, until she actually recognizes me now. I'm not a stalker or anything but......

I received an email that stated that Eve Ensler was going to be at Busboy and Poet in DC, on a Friday, at 6:30. If you live in DC, you know that the traffic is horrible at this time of day. But, I left work, went home briefly, and braved the DC traffic to see Eve, and I am so happy that I did.

Eve is the author of "The Vagina Monologues," and I absolutely loved it, and I was curious to hear her talk about her new book: In The Body OF The World.

In this book, Eve courageously talks about her battle with stage III/IV uterine cancer. God does have a sense of humor. Eve has spent quite a bit of her life talking and bringing to the forefront of the world's mind issues surrounding the female organs, and she gets uterine cancer. However, through her journey with cancer, she learns so much and is able to deal with her childhood, is able to connect her experiences with cancer to world events and the female body, and she also seemed to realize the essence of love:

"I love Jeanne and Alfonsine and Alisa, I love Christine and Dr. Mukwege. I love the women on Essence road who walk with two-hundred sacks tied to their foreheads. I love the women who sell charcoal and fish on the open road who dress in starched panges, so colorful they bring on the morning. I love the way they move and shout out and weep in sorrow. This is the big love. It has nothing to do with marriage or ownership or having and consuming. It is about showing up and forgetting, and keeping promises, about giving everything. No one is mine.........Love is something else, something rising and contagious and surprising. It isn't aware of itself. It isn't keeping track. It isn't something you sign up for. It's endless and generous and enveloping...." (P.128) 

I absolutely adored this book and how honest and open Eve is. This book shows that people can go through terrible childhoods, denial of their own bodies, hurt, rejection, drugs, rape, cancer, and still come out on the other side stronger and willing to help other people. I gathered through a class that I took with Iyanla Vanzant, that most of the things that we go through are not about us but about helping other people. Being authentic is awesome and healing for both the speaker and the listener, and Eve does a great job with authenticity.

Read this book and grow...

Eve is incredible!!!

My next read is non-other than Fifty Shades of Darker which is the second book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series. I've been doing some really heavy reading, and I need to lighten up some.

Make this day, your best day!