Joy, Goodness, and Growth (and How to Handle Uncertainty)

I was honored to take part in a new interview series my friend Keri Wilt of The Well-Tended Life is doing on finding and remembering the joy, goodness, and growth in our lives. The series was inspired by a quote from her great-great-grandmother Frances Hodgson Burnett’s book The Secret Garden: “Mistress Mary always felt that however many years she lived she should NEVER FORGET that first morning when her garden began to grow.”

We had a great time talking about these topics and I wanted to share the interview with you in case you’d like to check it out. She also has several other episodes completed, and I’ve found each one very inspiring and helpful.

One of the issues I talked about is how I’ve dealt with the uncertainty of these past few months by letting go of my need to control what’s going on (always a challenge for me!!). Here is the process that I came up with for doing that:

I do my best to release my expectations of what should happen, and my need to control what is going on.

I allow whatever is happening to be, whether or not I like it, and I accept the current reality without trying to change it.

And I trust that everything is going to be OK.

This approach has been invaluable in helping me navigate the anxiety of not knowing what is going to happen next (when I am able to remember to do it!).

You can watch the interview on her YouTube channel here. It’s also available in podcast format (“The Well-Tended Life”), available on Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher; find links here.

Wishing you an abundance of joy and goodness!

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R + R: Reading Recommendations for Rest + Recuperation (and Revitalization)

I’ve always turned to reading for help, whether it’s to learn about something new, better understand myself, change a habit, feel uplifted, or take a break and enter a magical new world.

I’m currently reading The Wisdom of Not Knowing: Discovering a Life of Wonder by Embracing Uncertainty by Estelle Frankel to help me adjust to this time of not knowing what will happen next. It occurred to me that this book, along with some others I’ve read, might be helpful to you as well during these stressful days.  So I thought I’d compile a list of recommendations, both nonfiction and fiction.

First, some pertinent/uplifting nonfiction titles:

Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom by Rick Hanson, PhD

Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee

Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management by Kate Northrup

Eat Pray Love and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Wake Up to the Joy of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Calmer, Happier Life by Agapi Stassinopoulos

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams

You can find many more nonfiction recommendations in two of my previous blog posts, Lighthouses: Books That Have Lit the Way for Me (Part 1) and (Part 2).

Here are some wonderful, imaginative fiction reads to help you escape the real world and come back refreshed:

The Night Circus and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Chance Developments and My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith (or any of his series books: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Isabel Dalhousie, or 44 Scotland Street)

The President’s Hat (or any other) by Antoine Laurain

The Story of Arthur Truluv, Night of Miracles, and The Confession Club (a trilogy) by Elizabeth Berg

The Lido by Libby Page

The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers by Terri-Lynne DeFino

The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

Diana, Herself by Martha Beck

Unfurl by Meghan Genge  

And while these may be “children’s books,” I return to them again and again for inspiration and comfort: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

If any of these books appeal to you and you want to buy a hard copy (as opposed to an ebook), I encourage you to order from your local independent bookstore to support them in this tough time. Many are offering free delivery or shipping in an effort to keep sales up. If your area doesn’t have an independent bookstore, two great ones offering free shipping (or free delivery if you live there) are Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans and Judy Blume’s Books & Books in Key West.

(Where I wish I were able to go read right now!!)

(Where I wish I were able to go read right now!!)