You have to learn to hold paradoxical experiences and truths without freaking out.
I mean, if you can't deal with the reality that life is just unbelievably beautiful and that love is really the answer to everything and that we're all going to die, then it keeps you being, you know, a nine year old for the rest of your life, trying to keep that at bay instead of saying, yes, we're all going to die.
How do I live in the face of that?
How do I live today?
How do I live for the next few hours in the face of the fact that life is short and precious and such a trip?
So my first exposure to Anne Lamott's work was her iconic book, Bird by Bird, which, as a writer, was really transformational for me.
Not just because it helped me really better understand how and why to write, but also because her wonderfully wise and irreverent voice, it just inspired me to be more real and more honest in both my work and in my life.
And I have remained captivated by her writing ever since.
The author of too many New York Times bestsellers, including almost everything.
Hallelujah.
Anyway, small victories.
Stitches.
Help.
Thanks.
Wow.
And dusknight dawn and goes, places that others kind of fear to tread with such humility, such humor, such craft.
It's like you've been invited into her mind, her life, and her ability to draw belly laughs and deep wisdom and hits of awakening from those often tiny little moments that touchdown in our lives that so many of us miss.
She reminds you that it may not be fun while it's happening, but it's all part of that beautiful souffle of life and every ingredient matters.
So excited to share this best of conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good life project.