Patti Digh
"If the Buddha had two kids, a dog named Blue, a Southern accent, and a huge crush on Johnny Depp, his name would be Patti Digh," wrote one reviewer after Digh's grassroots bestseller, Life Is a Verb, was published. In 2003, Patti Digh's stepfather was diagnosed with lung cancer and died just 37 days later. She woke up on day 38 and asked herself a question that she has asked every morning since: "What would I be doing today if I only had 37 days to live?"
Patti's award-winning blog, 37days.com, emerged from the lessons she learned by asking that question and soon the essays were crafted into the bestselling book LIFE IS A VERB: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally. Patti has since written FOUR-WORD SELF-HELP: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives, CREATIVE IS A VERB: If You're Alive, You're Creative, and WHAT I WISH FOR YOU: Simple Wisdom for a Happy Life.
Her newest book, The GEOGRAPHY OF LOSS, comes out January 2013. In the tradition of her other releases, Geography of Loss will also be beautifully illustrated by readers. This unique book will serve as a guide to help readers Embrace What Is, Honor What Was and Love What Will Be.
In addition to her writing, Patti is a co-founder of an international consulting firm focused on re-imagining K-12 education. Patti is also a sought after Keynote speaker. Audiences come away from her speeches both laughing and crying, and with a clearer sense of what's important in their own lives.
Patti and her family live (intentionally) in the serene mountain town of Asheville, NC.
www.37days.com
“Being generous often consists of simply extending a hand. That's hard to do if you are grasping tightly to your righteousness, your belief system, your superiority, your assumptions about others, your definition of normal.”
“Sometimes our stop-doing list needs to be bigger than our to-do list.”
“We confuse what is complex (raising a child, finding more meaning in our lives) with what is complicated (sending astronauts to the moon, doing our taxes). Confusing the two, leads us to complicated solutions for things that are actually complex instead.”
“Don't say you're a writer if you're not writing. Even if you're writing, don't call yourself a writer. Say instead, 'I write.' It's the verb that's important, not the noun.”
“We can either own our circumstances and be creative in them, or we can throw up our hands and say, I cannot be held accountable because the conditions are not ideal.”
“Don't separate 'real' life from 'creative' life.”
“What few rules appear to be in place are all made up.”
“What if your art could provide everything you ever needed or wanted in life?”
“When we know what we most fear, we know what we most care about.”
“If you're alive, you're creative.”
“Equip yourself for your own needs.”
“Watch other people for clues about who they are, not just clues about how much they are or are not like you.”
“Create inclusion - with simple mindfulness that others might have a different reality from your own.”
“Generosity has little to do with giving gifts, and everything to do with giving space to others to be who they are.”
“People don't stop being bullies when they grow up. They just dress differently to fool you.”
“The death rate for people who play it safe and for those who live boldly is the same.”
“We give up our power to the very people who took it away from us in the first place.”
“Great change doesn't come with official endorsement.”
“If I stop judging other people, I free myself from being judged, and I can dance!”
“Instead of a book, what if we're actually writing (or not writing) in the margins of our lives? What if our lives are books? What is the sign of our presence? Are we pressing into the margins our interpretations and questions? Are we circling offending verbs and drawing furious arrows to the margin where we scrawl "irony," "frustration," "voiceless," "unfair!" Or do we simply turn the pages, passively receiving what's given, furiously disagreeing but remaining silent about it?”