The Happiness Project
Oooh, oooh, look at me I’m famous! Okay, not really, but I was interviewed for a piece on time management for Shine.
Yesterday was one of those days where it felt like the entire world conspired to tell me something, or perhaps I was just ready to listen. Over my lunch break I picked up a new book, to go with this month’s resolutionary theme. I picked up The Happiness Project. I’m only 70-pages in, but so far, I’m in love with it. On my way back from yoga last night I hit the section where the writer, who was once a lawyer, talked to her sister about giving up law and pursuing a career in writing.
She says she’s always struggled to feel legitimate, to seem legitimate and writing isn’t really legitimate. I totally get it, I’ve always felt this inner battle with myself to prove to the world that I’m a highly educated, intelligent, capable person yet my passion has always been in the creative…a realm not entirely appreciated for those aspects. I’m with the author, while I didn’t go to law school, I was very close to going, weeks away actually when I was offered the job hosting The Daily Special.
I guess, the truth is, I don’t know who I’m trying to be legitimate for, my family and friends have always supported my pursuing creative careers and really, does anyone else matter?
The book is great, I recommend it so far and it made me want to add a few more resolutions to the month:
- Sleep
- Smile
- Do it (meaning, get things done instead of procrastinating).
I hit up my yoga class, which was probably the best yoga class of my life. It felt amazing and the theme of the night was about taking our biggest flaw and finding the positives in it. I like to harp on my flaws so this seemed to fit in well with my personality. So as we breathed through hard positions, we thought about the positives behind our own personal demons.
One of my biggest flaws has always been my never ending ability to make everything my fault. Whenever I’ve been hurt emotionally, or something bad happens to me or the people around me I somehow morph the situation into my fault. This drives my mother crazy because she’s pretty sure she gave birth to a perfect specimen. And well, honestly, as all-powerful as I am, things aren’t always my fault, sometimes other people are to blame…intellectually I know that, emotionally I’m still working on it.
As I meditated, literally, on it I realized that this fault comes from my desire to always see the best in other people. I want the world to be good and for people to be good. That’s actually not a terrible fault. Of course, it can be detrimental to my mental health, but I’m working on it. It’s actually quite selfish to take responsibility for everyone else’s shortcomings.
On to the food:
Breakfast
Oatmeal with reduced fat sour cream
Lunch
Leftover kale & white bean soup (finally, the end of it)
Orange
Dinner
1/4 cup mixed nuts
This wasn’t intended to be dinner, it was intended to be a snack pre-yoga, but when I got home from class I was too tired to eat. I understand I haven’t been eating enough lately. I’m working on it, I’m just battling one of those “no appetite” periods. They don’t happen often in my life but when they do I have a lot of trouble eating enough.
Kim
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I’m a creative writing major currently interviewing t
for a legal assistant job at a number of Manhattan law firms, knowing I really don’t want the jobs. Maybe I should read this book. Not kidding. Anyway, what I really want to be is a writer, and you mentioned a while back that you were writing a book. Did anything ever come of that?
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Kimberly Rae Miller Reply:
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:38 am
Good luck Brunette. Graduating is such a stressful time, just remember that you’re young and there’s plenty of time to try things out.
As for my book, yes and no, things have happened with it. There’s a literary agent who took an interest in me, but would prefer I sideline the friendship book I was originally writing and write more of a memoir/collection of essays a la “The Kim Challenge.” She’s told me she wants my book proposal when I’m done, but since I’ve been working sooooo much in the last 7 months I haven’t had time to really work on the proposal. That’s definitely on my life priorities list in the coming months.
[Reply]
Hey Kim! Funny to hear you mention Gretchen Rubin’s book, because her blog (also called The Happiness Project) is one of my daily reads, right alongside yours. Definitely worth checking out!
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