My friends and I joke that we are going to solve all of the world’s problems. Of course, we aren’t going to solve all of the world’s problems. We are people, however, who think and talk, and communicating with each other helps us clarify what we think. We talk because we haven’t given up on […]
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Weeds are flowers too?!
by resolutewoman on June 21, 2022 in friends, kindness, Uncategorized
I have some friends who have political opinions I don’t agree with, friends who can be a bit disagreeable, sometimes a bit cranky or unkind. They aren’t perfect. And, they may not be wonderful. However, once I got to know them and understand their circumstances, I realized that they are interesting, complicated people. They are […]
The whole human family
by resolutewoman on May 31, 2022 in families, friends, love
“The Golden Way is to be friends with the world and to regard the whole human family as one,” Gandhi once said. I found this quote in Lisa Congdon’s book You Will Leave a Trail of Stars. –Joy
A place in hell
by resolutewoman on March 29, 2022 in courage, friends, resolute-women, Uncategorized
We need to help each other. As Madeleine Albright, this country’s first female secretary of state, once said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
The heart of empathy
by resolutewoman on March 10, 2022 in character, families, friends, Uncategorized
What is empathy? Christopher Myers, in his introduction for Home Is Not a Country, offers one answer. “It seems to me,” he says, “that this knowledge—that you could have just as easily been any one of a hundred other people—is at the heart of empathy. It’s the realization that every person you meet, or see […]
Just be “nice”
by resolutewoman on March 5, 2022 in advice, families, friends, kindness
I never have liked the word “nice.” Somehow, it always seems a bit trite, but the word is packed with a lot of information. That’s why I like this quote by anonymous. “Treat everyone with kindness, even those who are rude to you, not because they are nice but because you are.” –Joy
Remember kindness
by resolutewoman on March 3, 2022 in families, friends, kindness
I sometimes have to remind myself that I can be kind to everyone. “Kindness is in our power even when fondness is not,” Henry James once said. –Joy
Endless pools of unknowability
by resolutewoman on February 5, 2022 in families, friends, marriage
In her book Oh, William!, Elizabeth Strout writes about William and Lucy, who used to be married to each other. An NPR interviewer commented, “Lucy and William knew each other very well, but they didn’t know each other as well as they thought they did. “Has you ever experienced this?” “Yes, I have,” Strout answered, […]
We are mysteries
by resolutewoman on February 3, 2022 in families, friends
In her book Oh, William!, Elizabeth Strout writes about William and Lucy—and about knowing and not knowing—other people and ourselves, too. At the end of the book, Strout concludes: But when I think Oh William!, don’t I mean Oh Lucy! too. Don’t I mean Oh Everyone, O dear Everybody in this whole wide world, we […]
Count your blessings
by resolutewoman on January 15, 2022 in friends, health, peace
A friend died. Another friend has to wait to pick up a new prescription until she gets a check next week. And a third friend has COVID and is afraid he will give the virus to his spouse. I am so tired of this pandemic, but I am counting my blessings. My issues are very […]
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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.
