self-help

  • Now that you’ve blown your New Year’s resolutions…

    Has it happened yet? Has that steely resolve behind your New Year’s Resolution already failed? Not so fast: what happens next is crucial. What if it isn’t willpower you lack, but the flexibility to embrace failure as part of the process? As Maya Angelou wrote, “…it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you… Continue reading

  • That Encouraging Voice in Your Ear

    I’m a self help fan who hates reading self help books. When it comes to encouraging words, I want to hear them, preferably while I go about my household chores, tend my garden, or take a walk in the park. These encouraging little talks between me and my iPod are just the thing to add more… Continue reading

  • Read This: The Misfit’s Manifesto, by Lidia Yuknavitch

    Read This: The Misfit’s Manifesto, by Lidia Yuknavitch

    Quote: “You are not nothing. You are vital to your culture. We misfits are the ones with the ability to enter grief. Death. Trauma. And emerge. But we have to keep telling our stories, giving them to each other, or they will eat us alive. Our suffering is not the Christ story. Our suffering is… Continue reading

  • Lady Power!

    Today, in honor of those fierce and fabulous ladies over at The FBomb Breakfast Club, I want to talk about the power of women helping women succeed. There’s a special feeling when you know a lady (or a crew of them) has your back, encouraging you and reminding you how strong a worker and teammate… Continue reading

  • The 2016 Elections: Library Resources

    The mission of The Seattle Public Library is to bring people, information and ideas together to enrich lives and build community. We value equality, inclusion and openness and strive to be welcoming safe spaces. No matter what the current events are locally and beyond, the Library provides a collection of materials to patrons of all ages,… Continue reading

  • You: The Project

    We’re all just works in progress, right? At the library, I generally see the greatest demand for self-improvement books in the lead up to and immediately following the New Year. It makes sense. All those resolutions – to keep a cleaner house, to start exercising, to meditate – you may as well begin with the… Continue reading