Movie review: Eat. Pray. Love.

The name of Elizabeth Gilbert has been around for a long time, ever since she published her bestseller. "Eat. Pray. Love." is a heart touching story about Liz herself. She had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having: a beautiful husband, a house, a successful career - yet, like a lot of people nowadays, she found herself lost and confused. As she claimed, she lost spark in life. Doesn't it sound like a checkpoint? That was a bell telling her to start searching for what she really wanted in life. 

Suddenly, just after crossing the checkpoint, she found herself newly divorced woman at crossroads. What would you do? To my mind, the only way out is to be open-minded and go explore. Whatever that means. Indeed, that's exactly what she did. The whole eyes-opening experience evolved around meeting new people, discovering herself and being open to whatever came next. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of eating in Italy, the power of prayer in India, and, unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. It does sound like a fairy tale. But, after all, life is really a fairy tale. And the best part has always been that you are an author. 

Stream of consciousness: Thrive

"I spent a lot of my life just trying to get through it" said Chrissy Hofbeck, contestant of "Survivor" and a mother. This phrase seems meaningless until you start analysing your own life. Do you remember how you were out of the world dreaming about a desired Friday night? Let me remind you, how many times "Just one hour before work ends and then I can go live my life!" crossed your mind? Plenty, I bet. 

People seem to live on an autopilot mode all the time. We, as a society, stopped appreciating small moments in life. Basically, we survive throughout five working days or seven classes in a day. We are in rush to get those things done, so there could be "our" day. The day we nail everything, the day we are finally enough. Well, the truth is: there is nothing more than now. "Today is my day" - that's a way Chrissy lives now. She neither survives nor lives in a time capsule, she thrives. Thrives like she never thought she could. 

If you're trapped in the "surviving mode", there is something that could help you break out of this vicious circle: stay present. No matter what, you need to be conscious of your actions, thoughts, emotions. You live your life now, whether you go through a tough time or have a time of your life. It doesn't matter - life doesn't stop when you want it to (unfortunately). 

Try to focus your stream of consciousness on thriving. We were born to bloom and not to survive. 

Movie review: Gossip Girl

Who doesn't want to hear a story, which is revolved around the lives of privileged upper-class adolescents living in Manhattan's Upper East Side? Well, Gossip Girl shows viewers the world where a normal high school student takes a limo to school and, basically, his life is overwhelmed by high fashion, Ivy League schools and luxurious apartments somewhere in the richest district of New York City. It does sound tempting, right?

Gossip Girl is not just another teens' tv show, it is more than just a story about an upper-class. This show represents a spectrum of people in NYC. Take Dan Humphrey as an example, a guy from Brooklyn (he is bullied over that fact), whose father is a 90s star and can   hardly afford Ivy League school or an apartment in a "usual" place of the richest people in the city. On the other hand, there is Chuck Bass, who inevitably stays the richest kid in the whole state, owning an Empire State Building and some other small properties. What a range!

 It's breathtaking to keep an eye on their lives, because, after all, they are all just teens with relationship troubles, complicated school life and a society, where mean girls are believed to be queens. All those people are connected not only by school or money, they go through the same situations as we all do: heartbreaks, parents' pressure, peer pressure, bullying, alcohol. 

As well as "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, Gossip Girl connects us with a young and wild teenage world. The show's plot is so well-thought and sincere that young adults can't help themselves but to watch this 6-season long tv show! To my mind, it is worth every single dollar spent on Netflix.