I wrote an essay in one hour.
It went viral and launched my career as a professional writer...
After so many people, literally millions, read my Modern Love essay in the New York Times in 2009…and after so many people didn’t receive its message, it is just plain manna for this writer to listen to the fantastic, spot-on, podcast that the NPR Boston station WBUR, the editor of the column, Dan Jones, and the actress (and now my friend) Alysia Reiner put together. That essay, called “Those Aren’t Fighting Words, Dear,” was reproduced all over the internet, and to date, it is the #2 Modern Love essay and the #1 most read article in the history of The Week. And now…it has the kind of support and integrity that I always wanted it to have. My deep gratitude goes out to the whole team who gave their hearts and elegant minds and voices to my essay. Thank you for letting me speak to the meaning of my essay. That’s a rare opportunity for an author. Deep bows to you.
What many people don’t know is that the essay was the short version of a memoir I wrote in real time, during that six month period, called “This Is Not The Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness.” While the essay was written in hind-sight, the book shows a woman going through a deep time of rejection with a very different, and in some ways counter-intuitive, approach to well-being. My book shows a woman, in her daily life, working with what it is to live in the moment, right there at her kitchen sink, driving her kids to school, in the mundane…with a commitment to emotional freedom. How? By becoming aware of the way the mind works, recognizing how it does and doesn’t serve me, and choosing to claim responsibility for my emotions. Whether they were fear-based, or joy-based, confused or ashamed, I learned in that time of my life, that nobody can control my mind or my heart and that I have choices in response to the things people say and do to me. Emotionally, that is. My message was never a strategy about how to stay married. It was always a philosophy about how to live your life, no matter what hardship you face. Thank you for listening, and thank you for receiving this message. Click here to listen to the podcast!
If you liked the essay, you’ll love the book: “This Is Not The Story You Think It Is”
Subscribe to the Modern Love podcast for more illumination!
Join me…
I have beautiful opportunities for you to live in your own confluence of heart and mind and watchful peace…
Haven Wander: Uruguay
If you know you need to stop the whirlwind of your life and really get to know yourself again, in a pristine place of magic and wonder…join me this January in Uruguay, South America. We’ll write, we’ll wander the beach and the hills, we’ll dine on gourmet food, hop on a horse if the spirit moves you, visit artist’s studios, bike and kayak and watch magnificent birds…and just…be. You do not have to be a writer to come. Just a wonderer who loves to wander.
To sign up for an informational call, go here
Haven Writing Retreats in Montana
Still spots left on my fall Haven Writing Retreats in Montana! You do not have to be an advanced writer to come! Just a seeker, and if you’re reading these words…you are that and a whole lot more.
To learn more about Haven, click here.
Now Booking our Fall Retreats:
September 25-29 (one spot left)
October 23-27
October 30-November 3