Tara Westover grew up in a survivalist family in Idaho. Even though she had never seen a doctor and had never sat in a classroom when she started college, she earned a Ph.D. from Cambridge in 2014. Westover came to believe “that the ability to evaluate many ideas, many histories, many points of view, was […]
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Something particular and real
by resolutewoman on February 2, 2019 in advice, confidence, courage, resolute-women
Mary Oliver, who died last month, wrote “often of mortality, but with a spirit of gratitude and completion,” her obituary stressed. The poet once wrote: When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder If I have made of my life something particular and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full […]
Create meaning
by resolutewoman on January 19, 2019 in courage, grief
After tragedy, you don’t find meaning, Elaine Pagels, a professor at Princeton, told an audience at Arts & Letters Live in Dallas recently. “You create meaning.” Pagels writes about the death of her 6-1/2-year-old son and her husband in her new book Why Religion?
New Year’s Resolutions
by resolutewoman on January 3, 2019 in change, courage
I don’t know about you, but I seem to recycle my New Year’s Resolutions. I plan to eat healthy foods, unclutter and update my house, and read more. No matter, the fact that I continue to make the same resolutions indicates what is important to me—and how difficult some goals are to achieve. I’m trying, […]
Let’s invite one another in
by resolutewoman on December 15, 2018 in book, change, courage
“In sharing my story, I hope to help create space for other stories and other voices, to widen the pathway for who belongs and why,” Michelle Obama says in her book Becoming. And, she adds, “Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let […]
What was right for the country
by resolutewoman on December 11, 2018 in character, courage
Lyndon Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress. It made segregation illegal in most public accommodations—including restaurants and bus stations. LBJ knew what he was doing was right for Americans—but he also knew that it wasn’t a good political move for him or the Democratic Party. “I think we’ve just delivered the […]
Three attributes of leaders
by resolutewoman on December 6, 2018 in character, courage
Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Leadership: In Turbulent Times, says that a president needs three attributes: • Humility—the understanding of your limitations • Empathy—the ability to understand other people—people from other races, backgrounds and classes • Resilience—character developed through a past history of failure and success “People don’t change fundamentally,” Goodwin said. “Everyone is broken […]
Color or religion or place of birth
by resolutewoman on December 1, 2018 in change, courage
“To deny a man (or woman) his (or her) hopes because of his (or her) color or race, his (or her) religion or place of his (or her) birth is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for America’s freedom,” Lyndon Baines Johnson […]
March ahead
by resolutewoman on November 29, 2018 in change, courage
“We must make the pledge that we will always march ahead,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said. I found this quote recently when I visited the LBJ Library in Austin. –Joy
Look fear in the face
by resolutewoman on November 27, 2018 in confidence, courage
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face,” Eleanor Roosevelt once said. “You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” We found this quote in Adam Hamilton’s book Unafraid.
What’s this site about?
We wrote our book and we’re writing our blog because we were frustrated. We were frustrated with experts who try to tell people how to lose weight, raise their children and improve their marriages—and be a success—in 10 easy steps. In three weeks. In one book.
Our self-help book and blog are for grownups—for women who know that there are no easy answers to life’s complex problems—that finding solutions requires some self-knowledge and self-searching and hard work.
We want to help women discover their own answers and live with them as their guide. We want to help you and other women Help Yourself!
We write about making changes and also about many other issues important to women, including families, friends, work and food.
