-
Registration open for Self-Help Book Club
Earlier this month, I announced the Self-Help Book Club, a new fall program I’ve created for the Blair Memorial Library in Clawson. Registration is now open for our September book discussion: How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, by David Brooks. The discussion will be held on Monday, September 22, 6:00PM to 7:30PM. This highly acclaimed best-seller will help you improve your relationships and deepen your understanding of how other people think. Author David Brooks borrows from the fields of psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, history, and education to help us discover what drives human relationships. To read my review of this title, click here. Enrollment…
-
Wilderness survival
“There will be times when standing alone feels too hard, too scary, and we’ll doubt our ability to make our way through the uncertainty. Someone, somewhere, will say, ‘Don’t do it. You don’t have what it takes to survive the wilderness.’ This is when you reach deep into your wild heart and remind yourself, ‘I am the wilderness.’” ~Brene Brown Not long after college, I had a job in reference book publishing. Every weekday for nearly five years, I took a bus downtown to an office in Detroit. As much as I enjoyed book production and the friends I made at the company, something was missing. I wasn’t writing. So…
-
Illuminate the ordinary
“To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.” ~Henry David Thoreau Sometimes we’re so focused on planning a big vacation that we take for granted the “ordinary” days we’re experiencing right now. On average, a good vacation lasts a couple of weeks, but a good life is measured by how we live every single day. After investing so much time and emotional energy into our holidays and special occasions, no wonder we feel let down when we resume our usual routines. Life isn’t just a series of special events and high expectations. And we’ve only ourselves to blame when boredom strikes. In today’s quote, Thoreau…
-
Surf’s up
“While you are riding the wave, just put your best self out there and enjoy it.” ~Frieda Pinto A few people who know me well have told me that I “overthink” things. I suspect this is part of being a writer. Whatever the reason, focusing on what could possibly go wrong can be a tiresome habit in daily life. Even when there’s nothing to worry about, I wait for the other metaphorical shoe to drop. Psychologists call it “anticipatory anxiety.” Today’s quote is a wise reminder for over-thinkers like me. When life is going well, the best thing we can do is to ride the wave, soak up the sun,…
-
The hero of your journey
“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” ~Joseph Campbell Mythologist Joseph Campbell believed that everyone’s life is a “Hero’s Journey.” Along the way, we battle our own metaphorical dragons and monsters. We encounter life-changing challenges and obstacles. And while we rarely realize it until later, our darkest moments contain the most profound lessons. I recall the time I had both hips replaced within five months, in my forties, after a crippling battle with osteoarthritis. (That was back in the day when hip replacement surgery was more complicated than it is now.) My recovery required weeks…
