I'm going to take a break until the New Year mostly because my thoughts are going to be on Christmas and finishing a draft of my novel before I send it to my poor friend Kelly to read for me. I presume most people will be the same, working on their own metaphorical novels and holiday activities.

Speaking of books, the other day I finished Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. I had to be coaxed into reading (or rather, listening) to this. I was a little mistrustful of Gilbert because all I knew of her was the movie Eat, Pray, Love (I hadn't even read the book) and also because it sounded a little woo-woo. But enough friends who are not typically woo-woo recommended it to me and now a.) I also recommend it and b.) I like Gilbert as a person and am sorry that I judged her as an author based on a movie that I'm pretty sure she had little control over that I also kind of went into with a snarky 'tude in the first place. 

Anyway what I like about the book is that it's applicable to creative people of all "levels." It's for the person who always felt like he or she had something artistic inside that they are too frightened to show the world. And it's also for people who make money by being creative but still struggle with the soul-crushing cycles of feeling like you're a failure with absolutely nothing followed by the dumb optimism that maybe you know what you're doing after all. Gilbert basically says, overall, to take art both seriously and not, which I think is good advice. The muse, or whatever you want to call it, can kind of be like mercury (back in the old days when you used to be able to play with it when a thermometer broke and we all had fun and got poisoned.) If you press on a glob too hard it's going to break into a lot of little pieces and get away from you but if you play with it and know how it works (and also know that it is probably going to kill you) you'll get the hang of it. This is a really bad metaphor. Let's just say I recommend it if you know an artistic, or aspiring-artistic friend who has ever complained about his or her project.

And speaking of work, here are two pieces that I published this week that I'm proud of and hope you enjoy. The first was inspired by the weird feeling, when I was pregnant with James, that it was somehow countercultural to simply trust my doctors. It's called "When Did The Internet Become Smarter Than My Doctor?" and it's up on Dame.

I'm also very excited to make my debut on Elle.com, with a piece that justified me holding onto these very tedious journals I used to keep that detailed my weight loss goals and failures--it's called Why I Had to Stop Working Out to Get Healthy.

Anyhow, thank you, if you happen to be a reader, for reading this year, and if you happen to be a supportive person, for the support in 2015. I hope we all have a great 2016--see you on the other side!