[BONUS] Anne Lamott on Faith, Writing, and Radical Self-Love

Jun 14, 2024

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In this special bonus episode of the For the Love Podcast, Jen sits down with her literary hero — beloved author and teacher, Anne Lamott, whose candid, humorous writing has inspired millions to embrace their imperfect selves.

Anne and Jen explore the hard-won wisdom distilled across Anne's 45-year career and 20 books - from finding radical self-love after a lifetime of shame, to surrendering to life's ordinary miracles during periods of existential crisis. With refreshing irreverence, Anne shares her lessons on unearthing your deepest, truest voice and faith that new paths are waiting, even when the way forward feels hopelessly obscured.

Jen and Anne discuss

The importance of radical self-love, letting go of shame, and being your own priority before trying to please or gain approval from others
Having faith that there is a "shape" or path waiting for you, even if you can't see it yet, by surrendering and doing the work of self-examination
The wisdom that comes with age in realizing how little you know
The way small, mundane acts can be profound expressions of love and service to buoy you during dark periods

For anyone who has ever felt cracked by life's circumstances, Anne's perspective provides a roadmap back to wholeness.

Thought-Provoking Quotes:

“[I've been] giving myself deeper and deeper permission to use my own voice and to stop trying to get people to like or respect me or to think I'm more educated than I am--which I'm not at all educated--and to just get kind of cleaner in my own being so that I could write the deepest I could go in my own truest voice and just get that day's work done one day at a time. It's like nautilus for the soul. To keep writing your truth with your own weird, quirky, way of expressing yourself and being affirmed that people seem to like it and to keep going.” - Anne Lamott

"What love manifests is making more mistakes. Knowing as a writer, that a pile of papers and notes and index cards is a fertile field, and you don't need to know what you're going to do with them. They know what you're going to do with them. The material knows what you're going to do with it, and it's going to get back to you as it trusts more and more that you're a reliable narrator." - Anne Lamott

“We do some deep dive into the obstacles to radical self-love and to just surrendering to the path of goodness or God or the holiness. The first thing God says to Moses is 'take off your shoes. Feel the earth beneath your feet. This is holy ground.' And that is what God has for you, starting right now. Take off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the earth. Look up. Breathe in. And when you are restored from what you've been through, all this nautilus for your soul you've been doing, you're going to step forward into that shape.” - Anne Lamott

Resources Mentioned in this Bonus Episode:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life - https://bit.ly/3K1JZGg

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott - https://bit.ly/3ytWzeK

The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford - https://bit.ly/3JZCP5s

Hard Laughter: A Novel by Anne Lamott - https://bit.ly/4bFcO7b

Five Rules of Being a Grown-Up (Article by CJ Green) - https://bit.ly/4bXbmxl

8 Best Anne Lamott Books -https://bit.ly/3yoWbyj

Guest Links:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/annelamott/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AnneLamott/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/annelamott/

Penguin Random House - https://sites.prh.com/annelamott