Tag: self-love

Done Questioning

Posted on by Erin of the Hills

Do not let what you think they think of you make you stop and question everything you are.

Carrie Fisher

I’m not sure what your opinion on the late, great Carrie Fisher is. Despite having found her tweets incredibly confounding, what long-form writing of hers I was exposed to really stayed with me. Postcards from the Edge might be the first book I’ve ever read where the author’s voice truly struck me as unique.

Now…this may say more about where I was in my reading journey and life overall at the time than being any kind of disparaging comment on anything I had read previously but…I digress.

The point is, whether she meant this or not, in reading that book I truly felt as if Ms. Fisher herself was speaking to me – trying to explain something about who she was and what her seemingly glamorous life was or had been like. It went beyond memoir or autobiography, despite being fiction. Like cracking open a soul.

Her book confirmed what I had already surmised: I wanted to write and I wanted to write in my own voice – not one that was prescribed to me.

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Reading Roundup: October 2023

Posted on by Erin of the Hills

“Speak to your darkest and most negative interior voices the way a hostage negotiator speaks to a violent psychopath: calmly, but firmly. Most of all, never back down. You cannot afford to back down. The life you are negotiating to save, after all, is your own.

Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

I’ll admit, this has not been a great month for writing. In fact, it has been downright dismal. What a wonderful time, therefore, for me to come across my favourite lines from Elizabeth Gilbert’s brilliant Big Magic to remind me how unnecessary and, perhaps, even downright harmful it is to denigrate myself for having such an off month.

I mean, think about it. What do we gain from beating ourselves up so? Who wins in that battle? Certainly not the self being harassed. And not even the self doing the harassing. So…basically…no one wins. My husband often tells me that the worst part about me beating myself up is that he can’t confront the person bullying his love because, well, that person is also his love (albeit a very mean version of her reserved exclusively for self-flagellation).

So, this is me talking to that negative being who lives inside of me: shush you. That’s how hostage negotiators talk…no?

I may not have managed much writing this month but oh boy did I ever manage a bunch of reading. This is going to be a long one! So, get cozy with a nice hot drink and come on a journey with me through the very best of what I read in October.

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Solidarity Sunday #15: Self Love

Posted on by Erin of the Hills

In life you have to learn to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you.

Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club

My goodness, it has been quite a while since I wrote a Solidarity Sunday. I thought for a time that I would retire this series since, well, hopefully the pandemic is well and truly behind us (for the most part). However, who says we all still can’t use some solidarity once in a while? Our world is certainly crazy enough right now to call for it…

So, I’m going to continue this series for the foreseeable future. I mean, let’s face it, we aren’t going to be living in a perfect utopic paradise any time soon.

I’ll tell you what. The day we solve climate change, gender inequality, all the nefarious isms, hunger, violence, poverty, and homelessness…I’ll consider this series retired.

Now, let’s move from the big picture to the detailed and talk about the most personal subject of all: Self Love.

Do butterflies struggle with self-love? Doubtful. (Photo: ErinoftheHills)
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