One Quote + One Note + One Question January 24, 2024
One Quote
Many self-help gurus overattribute their success to their own hard work without any regard to the physical, mental, or economic privileges they hold. You can see this when a twenty-year-old fitness influencer says, “We all have the same twenty-four hours!” to a single mom of three. The fitness influencer only needed to add effort to see drastic changes in her health and so assumes that’s all anyone is missing. The single mom of three, however, is experiencing very different demands and limitations on her time. For her, she needs not only effort but also childcare, money for exercise classes, and extra time and energy at the end of a day when she has worked nine hours and then spent an additional five caring for kids and cleaning house. You can see this when a thin, white, rich self-help influencer posts “Choose Joy” on her Instagram with a caption that tells us all that joy is a choice. Her belief that the decision to be a positive person was the key to her joyful life reveals she really does not grasp just how much of her success is due to privileges beyond her control. Someone who is affected by serious mental illness or systemic oppression has a lot more standing in the way of a happy life than a simple attitude adjustment.
- KC Davis, How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing
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One Note
Amen. I want to write more on this soon, but I’m about to meet with a client.
Also, I’ve decided the best way for me to make money is to keep cleaning my own house.
Also, that book, How to Keep House While Drowning, is fantastic.
Until next time,
Charlotte
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One Question
Which self-help messages and approaches drive you crazy?
Charlotte Donlon’s writing and work are always rooted in helping her readers, audience, and clients notice how art and other good things help them belong to themselves, others, the divine, and the world. Charlotte is the founder of Thoughtful Books Etc.™, One O’Clock Central, Spiritual Direction for Writers® , Spiritual Direction for Belonging™, and Parenting with Art™. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. Her next book on Spiritual Direction for Writers will be published by Eerdmans in 2025. Charlotte’s essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a certificate in spiritual direction. To receive Charlotte’s latest updates, news, announcements, and all kinds of good things, subscribe to Thoughtful Readers Etc. + Five Good Things.