I saw this on Facebook and thought I’d share it with all of you. I love Anne Lamott. She is so wise.
Friday Mindfulness
Tag: Anne Lamott
International Women’s Day
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve had a busy week starting off with an author visit to a school. I didn’t get pictures this time because there literally was no time to get them. I was busy with the kids, then signing books and before I knew it, time was up. But I did enjoy it and the kids seemed to have fun, too.
I took a couple of days off from work and connected with a couple of old friends I haven’t seen in a while. It was fun and relaxing. I needed a few days off. I also got some writing done which felt good. I get frustrated when I can’t write, so it felt good to get some wordage down. But enough about that, today is International Women’s Day, and I thought it would be appropriate to give a shout out to some women who have inspired me in some way.
The first one is Anne Lamott. I heard her speak about ten years ago at a Writer’s Conference and she was amazing. The way she connected with all the writer’s in the audience and her down to earthiness and honesty. It was refreshing. She’s the one that said:
You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.
This is so true. So, for all you writer’s out there. Tell your stories and don’t stop. The world needs them.
The next woman that inspires me is Gloria Steinem. She’s a feminist and political activist and I must say she’s been a driving force behind the women’s movement, dating all the way back to the sixties. Her relentless pursuit of women’s rights has inspired me to stand strong and believe in myself. She is the co-founder of Ms. Magazine and a voice for women all over the world. Some of her more famous quotes are below.
The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.
Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.
A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.
And let’s not forget Rosie!
There you have it. Three women who’ve inspired me to chase my dreams and overcome my obstacles. How about you? Do you have any women who’ve inspired you in your life? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
The War on Perfection
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today and I’m talking about New Year Resolutions. It’s funny, but I’ve noticed the same goals find their way back on my list year after year. It seems like I make these resolutions, but somewhere along the way they get forgotten as I get busy with my day to day life. As I made my list this year, I added the old “lose weight and get back into shape.” A repeat goal from previous years.
Then one of my favorite speakers, one I was able to see in person, wrote this Facebook post. She’s brilliant and strong and vulnerable all at the same time.
Her name is Anne Lamott and here’s the article. https://www.facebook.com/AnneLamott/
In a nutshell, she talks about accepting our bodies the way they are, that dieting doesn’t work, and you’ll gain the weight back plus five pounds. It happens every time.
Then I read this post. http://www.scarymommy.com/oprah-winfrey-weight-watchers-commercial/?utm_source=FB
This one’s about Oprah Winfrey and how she bought stock in Weight Watchers and made close to seventy million dollars in one day. Now she’s their spokesperson and she’s encouraging women to step up to the plate and lose weight. She understands your battle. She’s going to fight with you and make millions off of you while you do it. I’ve always been a fan of Oprah. She’s accomplished so much in her life, but this article made me uneasy, especially after reading the previous one.
That’s when I had an epiphany. I realized our society has always socked it to us women. I’m not being sexist here. It’s true. We have millions of makeup companies who preach to us about covering up our flaws and we buy into this crap because we want to be perfect. We want to look like the air-brushed models on TV and in the magazines. But who is defining perfection for us?
The makeup companies?
The Clothing Manufacturers?
How do they know what perfection is? How did they become experts?
These companies are making millions marketing to our insecurities and selling the idea that their products will help us reach that magical state of perfection if we purchase them. Don’t feel bad. I fell for it too. But now I’m older and wiser.
I realize, we’re already perfect. All of us. How do I know? Well, here’s the thing and I realized this back in college, but forgot it somewhere along the way. No one in the world looks exactly like us. So no one can be more beautiful than us.
Our perfection is in our uniqueness.
Why in the world would we want to look like someone else? If we strive to copy someone else, we’ll always feel second best, because no one can do better than the original.
Enjoy your uniqueness. Your originality. Be the best you, you can be.
With that in mind, I changed my resolution from the old losing weight and getting back in shape to maintaining my health. Instead of becoming a slave to the scale and counting calories, I’m exercising to stay healthy. I may change a few of my eating habits too. I’ll eat more fruits and vegetables because they’re good for me.
My hope for the future is that our culture will change its focus. Instead of focusing on perfection. Let’s focus on health. Let’s focus on appreciating the wonderful miracle our body is and taking care of it.
Let’s focus on fighting Anorexia and Bulimia, on building women’s self-esteem instead of tearing it down.
Let’s start a War on Perfection. We can do this, you know. We’ve changed history before. We can definitely do it again.
Thanks for reading my post, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you! Are you going to join me in the War on Perfection?
