I still can’t stop thinking about the mantras speakers shared at @togetherliveevents with @hellosunshine. This one is from @priyaparker and hit me in the gut. As a self-critical perfectionist, I tend to think that if something is obvious or easy for me, it must not be valuable or important. Here’s a small example. Continue reading “The things that are obvious to you”
Category Archives: books
If it feels weird
One of the best mantras from @togetherliveevents was from the country music star Cam. She said, “If it feels weird, it’s weird.” Meaning, trust your own read on things, folks. Own it. Believe yourself. This is very much something I’m working on right now. It’s important for me, and it’s doubly important for my kidsContinue reading “If it feels weird”
Never stop growing
The other night, I attended @togetherliveevents and the speakers were each asked to share a mantra. No one asked me to share mine, but here I go anyway: Never stop growing. I believe deeply in the importance of growth and change throughout the lifespan. I really think we can’t fully live unless we’re growing. IContinue reading “Never stop growing”
What if you felt less guilty
I have been listening to the @audible_com audiobook of Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by @enagoski. I have 29 minutes and 46 seconds left, and I can tell I am loving this book because I am delaying listening to that last bit. I just don’t wantContinue reading “What if you felt less guilty”
Writing is like driving a car at night
“Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” (E.L. Doctorow in his novel Ragtime) I’m taking a course called #passiontopaid with @homsweethom. We had a live Q&A last night where, among other things, Lauren encouraged usContinue reading “Writing is like driving a car at night”
I am not an optimist
“I am not an optimist. I am a very serious possibilist.” I have long admired optimists because I am most definitely not one. I love the idea of being optimistic, but the mindset is so foreign to me. It doesn’t quite feel like that mindset leaves a place to incorporate my natural worries and observations.Continue reading “I am not an optimist”
It was always in you
“Whomever you become, whatever you make yourself into, that is who you always were. It was always in you.” Wow. The more I read Educated: A Memoir, the faster I read. It was like Tara Westovers’s words only baited my appetite, instead of sating it. Her word choice, story arc, and subject matter all swirledContinue reading “It was always in you”
Hope is not the absence of tragedy
“Hope? Hope is not the absence of tragedy, my friend. It is the conviction that tragedy can be endured (Travis Beacham).” Like most Americans of a certain age, I can’t see the date of September 11 without thinking of 2001. And, like most people, thinking of one tragedy reminds me of others. Sometimes, it isContinue reading “Hope is not the absence of tragedy”
It’s what I’m going to do
“It’s not what I’ve done, Allie thinks to herself, it’s what I’m going to do.” I am still working my way through The Power by Naomi Alderman. Because I am a mom of young kids, most of the time I have for reading is just before bed, even on weekends. This means my love forContinue reading “It’s what I’m going to do”
Impossible becomes possible
“Every day one grows a little, every day something is different so that in the heaping up of days suddenly a thing that was impossible becomes possible.” I just started reading The Power by Naomi Alderman. This line hit me like a warm balm that poured from the top of my head and settled comfortablyContinue reading “Impossible becomes possible”