This post originally appeared on Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook page, which you can visit here. You can also read about her brilliant new novel, ‘The Signature of All Things’, here. Or buy it here:
Dear Ones –
Here’s a story for you.
Not long ago, I was visiting Detroit, and I found myself in a beauty parlour, getting my hair done by a woman who, for the purposes of our story, I will call Tanya.
Tanya was in her late 30’s — beautiful and edgy and self-assured, with great style and a winning, charismatic personality.
As soon as she found out who I was, Tanya started telling me how much she wanted to change her life. She told me it had always been her dream to move from Michigan to New York, and to do hair in the big city.
“I really have to get out of here,” she said. “I’m suffocating in Michigan. I’ll die here if I stay another year.”
“You should go, then,” I told her. “I mean, if that’s your dream…”
“I can’t,” she sighed. “I’m trapped here because of my family…”
“Oh, do you have children?” I asked.
“No.”
“A husband?”
“No.”
“Boyfriend? Girlfriend?”
“No.”
“A sick relative who you need to care of?”
“No,” she said. “None of that. It’s just that I come from a big family and we’re really close, so I can never leave…
“Wait, so you’re telling me you can never leave Michigan?” I asked.
She sighed. “That’s right. I’m trapped here.”