For years, Gretchen Rubin has been one of my inspirations for Catching Happiness. I’ve read most of her books, and written about two of them (here and here), as well as her “four factors of happiness.” When I heard she was going to be in Tampa on April 17 for a tour stop for her most recent book, Secrets of Adulthood, I signed up to attend, and invited a friend I knew would enjoy going on an everyday adventure with me.  

Gretchen was warm and funny, thoughtful, and engaged with the crowd and the interviewer, author and podcaster John R. Miles. In addition to the simple pleasure of spending a few hours with a good friend while listening to an uplifting conversation between two interesting people, I came away with a few bits of inspiration for my own life. 

Writing routines and creativity

I always love to hear about other writers’ routines. Rubin gets up at 5:30 a.m. and writes until 9 a.m. Other activities she saves for later in the day, making sure to do her hardest work, original writing, when she’s at her best. This is something I’ve drifted away from, frittering away my sharpest hours doing non-high-value work. I plan to change that by changing the way I arrange my daily schedule.

Both Rubin and Miles agreed that the more writing you do, the better—i.e., the best way to spur creativity is by using it. Both are prolific between writing and podcasting, working on multiple projects at once. I’ve also gotten away from this habit, partly because of life circumstances. Now that things are settling down, I have the bandwidth to work on more—and that sounds appealing rather than overwhelming!

Aphorisms for the win!

Secrets of Adulthood is a book of aphorisms, concise statements that contain expansive truths.  Like Rubin, I love reading and collecting them. I love it when I discover a short saying that sums up something I’ve been thinking, or when I can quickly call to mind an aphorism to help me decide what to do about something. Here are a few from the book they talked about last night:

One of the best ways to find friends is to make friends with the friends of our friends.

The opposite of a profound truth is also true.

We care for many people we don’t particularly care for.

Pouring out ideas is better for the imagination than doling them out by the teaspoon (see creativity, above!)

Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination.

What can be done at any time is often done at no time.

Inspiration to go

After meeting Rubin and having our books signed, we drove home excitedly discussing what we were now feeling inspired to do—habit changes, books we want to read, more author events we can go to. While I still sometimes find it hard to convince myself to get out and do things rather than hole up at home, I’m always glad when I make the effort. In fact, there’s a Rubin aphorism for that: “Choose the bigger life.”

What has inspired you lately?

For more information:

https://gretchenrubin.com/

Happier with Gretchen Rubin (podcast) 

https://johnrmiles.com/