Not everyone knows her. But people who know Anne Lamott and her writing, really know Anne Lamott and her writing. You’ll find us at dinner parties, quoting her as often as possible and exchanging knowing looks as we talk about her like we know her personally.
Her books have titles like: Hallelujah Anyway, Help, Thanks, Wow and Plan B.
You see, while people like Brene Brown have written books about the so-called power of vulnerability, Anne Lamott has been writing vulnerably for many more years. She writes about parenthood, faith, sobriety and aging with a humor and charm that leaves the rest of us aching for more.
When you read an Anne Lamott book, you feel like an Anne Lamott friend. She turns over rocks to show her own soft underbelly, and isn’t that what friendship is?
She toes the line between reverent and humorous with such ease that though Lamott talks a lot about her Christianity, some of her biggest fans have no faith at all. Most of her writing focuses on faith, forgiveness and the act of living—in its messiest state. She encourages her readers to write their own stories. In fact, she wrote an entire book about the act of writing. She is, in the age of Trump, a voice in the resistance.
Anne Lamott is who we all should aspire to be.
And rather than quoting her observations and witticisms here, I encourage you to read as many as you can from this link. Watch her TED Talk. Soak in the wisdom and the wit. We all need a little more of that anyway.
Anne Lamott is at the Eccles Center Theater in Park City on Saturday, February 10 for a lecture and book signing. Tickets are available here.
