While we were in Maine, my daughter sent us a text message with a photo of our dog, Ginger—who was happy staying with Mary Elizabeth. She didn’t miss us at all. I tried to reply, but I was in a cabin on a lake with lousy cell service. I finally wrote: “I have not had [...]
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Advice from a lobster
by resolutewoman on August 12, 2017 in advice, families, friends
“Don’t be shellfish,” proclaims my “Advice from a Lobster” t-shirt from Maine. I followed that advice while we were on vacation—except when I was eating my blueberry pie. I was selfish when I picked the biggest piece. My lobster t-shirt also suggests: • Don’t get yourself in hot water. • Be a good catch. • [...]
Why are you unhappy?
by resolutewoman on July 29, 2017 in families, happiness
I have a tendency to be happy and optimistic a lot of the time. My mother was usually a happy person. But, I also sometimes have a tendency to be negative and depressed. My father had a tendency to be negative and discouraged. “Unhappiness is an avocation,” says Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland: A Memoir. [...]
Happy Fourth of July!
by resolutewoman on July 4, 2017 in families, food, holidays
Remember why we celebrate this holiday—and be sure to eat some ice cream! Here’s a gift–part of a poem–by Nikki Giovanni. One of the reasons I like this poem is that we always ate homemade ice cream on the Fourth of July when I was a child. Usually it was peach ice cream. Joy I [...]
A network of mutuality
by resolutewoman on June 29, 2017 in families, friends
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny,” Martin Luther King Junior once said. “Whatever affects one directly affects all directly.” I found that quote in Shery Sandberg and Adam Grant’s book Option B—Facing Adversity, Building Resilence and Finding Joy.
Another person
by resolutewoman on May 25, 2017 in families, friends
“Inside every person is a universe, and we’ll never know what it feels like to be another person,” author Elizabeth Strout told Time magazine in its May 15, 2017 issue. And, then, Strout concluded, “Which is horrifying.” Horrifying? That’s a strong word. I try to understand what another person is feeling. I think I can [...]
Her daughter’s secrets
by resolutewoman on May 20, 2017 in families, secrets
Marilyn, a character in the book Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, had left her daughter, who was only 11 months old, playing on a quilt in the living room and gone into the kitchen to get a cup of tea. Marilyn was startled to find Lydia, who had taken her first steps, [...]
Free from family?
by resolutewoman on May 18, 2017 in change, families
Her brother Nath was ready to leave his family and go away to college—“to start over as a new person with a new life.” It’s “just a problem of geography,” he thought, “with the confidence of someone who had never yet tried to free himself of family.” Most of us, like Nath, a character in [...]
A vast web of misunderstanding
by resolutewoman on April 8, 2017 in book, families
I just went to a cousin’s birthday party in Colorado City, Texas. Although I see most of my cousins on my father’s side of the family at least once a year, I haven’t seen many of the cousins on my mother’s side of the family in years. I was reminded of a line from Anna [...]
What’s your story?
by resolutewoman on March 25, 2017 in book, families, friends
Everyone has a story—or two or three, and most of us tell the stories that define our lives over and over, explained author George Saunders at an Art & Letters Live presentation in Dallas on March 8, 2017. I’ve been thinking about my stories. What are the stories about my life that I tell over [...]
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.
