My book club just read Sue Monk Kidd’s book The Book of Longings, and this is my favorite quote from the book. “When I tell you all shall be well, I don’t mean that life won’t bring you tragedy. Life will be life. I mean only you will be well in spite of it. All […]
All shall be well
by resolutewoman on August 12, 2021 in change, courage, grief, happiness, Uncategorized
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?
Sense of interconnection
by resolutewoman on January 17, 2019 in families, friends, grief
Elaine Pagels, a professor at Princeton, writes about the death of her 6-1/2-year-old son and her husband in her new book Why Religion? The two deaths happened about 30 years ago, but, only now, she says, is she able to write about them. “You don’t get over tragedies,” she told an audience at Arts & […]
Personalization, pervasiveness, permanence
by resolutewoman on June 27, 2017 in book, courage, grief
Psychologist Martin Seligman found that the three Ps can stunt recovery after the death of someone you love, the loss of a job or any other catastrophe. • Personalization is the belief that we are at fault. • Pervasiveness is the belief that an event will affect all areas of our life. • Permanence is […]
Life goes on
by resolutewoman on April 22, 2017 in friends, grief
My friend Olga told me about her friend who just died. She was a woman who had seen much and done much—and, for Olga, she had been more family than friend. I could feel Olga’s sadness when she concluded, “Life goes on.” It’s true. Robert Frost once said: ‘In three words, I can sum up […]
Remembering Patti
by resolutewoman on February 18, 2014 in Fayteen, friends, grief
I’m still overwhelmed by sadness when I remember Patti, my good friend and business partner in my real estate business. But, even though I’m grieving, I can’t keep from smiling when I think about Patti’s laughter and her loyalty and her many kindnesses. I’ve been thinking about Patti constantly since she died earlier this month. […]
A tribute to Roxie
by resolutewoman on September 4, 2013 in animals, grief
Fayteen and her family are still grieving for their beloved dog, Roxie. Since Roxie died recently, we have been thinking about how much our animals teach us about life and love. They are always eager to greet us in the morning, always ready to sit quietly by our side, always ready to comfort us when […]
So many amazing things
by resolutewoman on August 29, 2013 in families, grief, resolute-women
I just read Wild by Cheryl Strayed again before my book club discussed the book. I was impressed by Strayed’s tenacity. Even though her boots were too small and her backpack was too heavy and the snow was too slippery, she kept hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. On her journey, she remembered her mother’s death […]
How suffering takes place
by resolutewoman on February 7, 2013 in friends, grief
A very good friend died yesterday, and I have been feeling sad and thinking about the sadness her family is feeling. Recently, when I heard Natasha Trethewey, this country’s poet laureate, read a poem by W.H. Auden on National Public Radio, I knew exactly what Auden was writing about. I listened and remembered clearly one […]
The first lesson of grief
by resolutewoman on February 5, 2013 in aging, grief
A friend died. She was past 100. She was a friend, but not a close friend. I still felt sad. As I thought about my friend’s death, I remembered my mother’s death. In her book She Matters: A Life in Friendships, Susanna Sonnenberg writes that the first real lesson about grief is “its disorganizing confusions, […]
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.