Me Too

The two most powerful words in the English language are "me too." As I read the first chapters of Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, I couldn't help but utter these two words over and over again. As she talked about the loneliness of working from home, I uttered, "me too." As she wrote about the pains and triumphs of being creative for money, I said "me too." And when she spoke about the jealousy, self-doubt, and fear that can consume a working artist, I took a sigh of relief and said "me too."

Bird by Bird is the first of Anne Lamott's books that I've read and I'm hooked. Not only does this book speak to writers (this book is essentially about how to be a writer), but it speaks to anyone that works as a creative professional. Lamott is direct and says it like it is. She doesn't hide behind a veil of insecurity. In fact, she lets the whole world in to see every insecurity that she has, good and bad, and this is why she is loved so much by so many people. With Lamott, we can all say  "me too" and feel like we aren't going to get crushed by an enormous thumb of judgement like we were tiny ants on a playground.

With the Internet world that we live in, where everyone's photography and writing and insight and wisdom are readily available and, well, a little overwhelming, its so easy for me to begin doubting. Doubting that our images are any good, or that our blog is even remotely interesting, or that people are just being nice when they say they like us. But what's even worse is that this cycle of self-doubt is so much easier to start than it is to stop. Stopping self-doubt is like trying to stop a freight train filled with elephants by sticking out your finger and praying a bunch. Sometime we need a little help with this whole self-doubt/freight train/elephant thing. Sometimes (ok a lot of times) we just need a little "me too" in order to keep going.

So after finishing Bird by Bird, I can check a book off of my 2009 reading list. Speaking of which, I've actually made more progress on my list than I expected. I've listened to half of Never Eat Alone and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People on audiobook in the past month, and I'm starting Traveling Mercies and The Kite Runner in the next few days (actual book style). Jeff and I also listened to Chris Anderson's Free on the way up to Hume Lake, so I've even read a book that's not on my reading list. Wahoo! (PS go here for a great discussion/argument regarding Chris Anderson's concept of the free economy).

Blink - Malcolm Gladwell (in the middle of it right now and almost finished)

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

Tribes - Seth Godin

Purple Cow - Seth Godin

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki

Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott

Traveling Mercies - Anne Lamott (in progress)

Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (in progress)

Never Eat Alone - Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz

The Sound and The Fury - William Faulknor

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey

The Power of a Praying Wife - Stormie Omartian

In other news, the San Diego PUG is taking place tonight and we have the fabulous Gerald and Airika Pope out of Seattle, WA, speaking for us tonight! I can't wait! For all of the details, check out the San Diego PUG page.

Also, I'm so excited to share our next wedding with everyone! Stay tuned for Aaron and Krista, coming fresh out of the oven tomorrow!

Hugs,
Erin