Hi. Yeah. I think what I’m trying to do today is talk a little bit about quality of life, how to live your life happily, even if you have awful things you have to deal with or bad things happen. Because believe me, dealing with dystonia for the last 20-some years has not been easy. So I have managed, and I manage to see people now and then. That’s nice when I can do that. I’ve tried to be more social lately. I’ve tried to go out and do more book signings lately. I’ve tried to ... I’m now directing the second short film or will be. I’m still in the process, the pre-production process of doing the readings and doing the rehearsal and doing ... all of a sudden, I still need to get some props. I’m like, “Oh my God, it’s May and I was hoping to do this in June and I’m not sure that’s going to be possible. And I don’t know how quickly people can ... “
And I have to think about the studio space and all this kind of stuff is always in my head now. But the thing is, that’s why you don’t do this, unless it’s something that you really want to do. So that brings me to a couple of books that I happen to have. I got this from the library. I believe that came out this year, How to Live a Meaningful Life. It’s a very interesting book. This [Your Money or Your Life] is the one I’ve had for a long time. And I remember reading this and thinking, yes, but. What was that “but” all about? I’m trying to remember now. It’s been a long time since I’ve read this book. This apparently came out, I think this is the edition. This originally came out in the ‘90s, but I think this came out in 2006 or 2008.
It was very hard to read the fine print where the copyright was. But in any case, it did come out in the double aughts, whatever you want to call it, the 2000s. And so it’s fairly up-to-date. I mean, the advice is timeless when you come down to it. And many people will talk about how self-help books always sound the same. Well, a lot of them do because a lot of them follow a certain ... It’s almost like the Hero’s Journey. It’s like a template that they seem to follow in terms of how to self-actualize, whatever that means. To achieve your best, most optimal self or whatever the hell. Okay. Who says there is such a thing? Number one. Number two, maybe what you want is something much simpler.
It isn’t about becoming the biggest, the best, the most amazing. Maybe it’s about the moments you cultivate in your life that really spark joy for you, to bring in some Marie Kondo here. I’m just saying, I mean, there is so much in both of these books that I could just read to you and say, “This is great advice.” But then, I’m just reading from other people’s work.
You can read these books. I highly recommend this book. And I’m currently in the midst of trying to read this book whenever I can, because it’s from the library. And I am in fact reviewing lots and lots of [short story] submissions, although I’ve gone through all of them at this point, and now I am picking out my favorites and deciding which of these is amazing enough to merit an award. And I have to say that there are some real strong candidates in there.
Yeah, definitely. So it’s really been kind of a pleasure, even though it’s taken a lot of time and effort away from reviewing the books that come in that people want me to review.
It’s taken time, but I’ve really enjoyed the process. Some of the stories haven’t been as enjoyable as others, but I won’t mention any names. In any case, nice work on everybody’s part. Nice try at least on everybody’s part. I mean, really that’s all you can do at the end of the day is try your best and hope that you’re choosing your moments carefully, something like that. There’s a whole lot I could talk about in terms of happiness and being a woman in this country. I don’t know what it’s like in other countries. In other countries, it can be worse. That’s the thing. That’s the thing that gets me. As much bitching and moaning as I hear about gender issues or whatever, I’m thinking, “Okay, what if you were that person in some horrible place that would kill you for even saying that?”
Hmm. Something to think about. Yeah. I’ll end on a happier note. I actually made some print sales in the UK last year. I was stunned. I was looking through my paperwork. I’ve got so much ... I’m trying to get my finances in order and really it’s a mess. But I was thrilled to see that I actually made some print sales in the UK.That’s my big sales news of the moment. I can’t say that I made number anything on Amazon because I don’t even look there anymore. I could care. I mean, my ebooks aren’t there. Maybe they’ll be back. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never go back to Amazon. Maybe they can keep selling my print books in the UK and elsewhere, I hope. Or here, in the US, this is where I live. Yeah. So anyway. Oh, enough. Thank you so much for listening and subscribing if you subscribe.
And if you don’t, please subscribe. It would help. Then I’ll feel less like a New York Times bestselling author who has a title that I probably don’t deserve. I don’t know. Take care, be seeing you.
PS: Because Final Cut Pro is being a bitch not cooperating with me, there’s no intro, no text, no music. Just me, being authentic AF.
Mmm … “Authentic AF”. Sounds like a TV show or a podcast or a T-shirt! :)
PPS: Now this is interesting!
