Elizabeth Gilbert was Red Flagged?

A worthy novel shows me what mastery really means.

Was supposed to be working on this but blogged instead

Listicles are my snacks now that I don’t look at facebook so often. Medium is a healthier scrolling alternative with escapist options to tear open the literary equivalent of a small bag of cheesy crunchies.

This morning I was stalling going down to my studio to finish a portrait commission. “Hey,” I justified to me, “there’s time. My commute is a set of stairs.” I scrolled. A catchy headline about judging your friend’s taste in reading material by what they like was the gummy worm on a hook I bit while polishing off my coffee. I clicked.

The author offered a list of red flags that guide her to determine whether a friend’s taste is worthy of consideration. Granted, this writer is using personal reading preferences as a shortcut guideline, which is nicer than what I did. I judged and condemned her entire character based on one item in her short list… and it wasn’t a terrible list until I got to:

Elizabeth Gilbert.

This Medium blogger’s red flag of disregard was if someone liked The Signature of All Things. Her reason was (wait for it)

Like I care about moss.

Coincidentally, I happen to be listening to this same book as I work on a rather elaborate commission and this isn’t the first…