Last night Cheryl Strayed brought Sugar, spice, and everything nice to the LIVE stage, and Paul Auster gave the audience a night to remember on Monday as he discussed the memories in his new book.
Missed out on our last couple events this week? Come see Steven Johnson and Sherry Turkle discuss the impact of technology on our social lives TONIGHT. Use the code “CONNECTIVITY” for $10 off general admission. See you there!
Lots happening at LIVE this week!
Tonight: Novelist Paul Auster discusses his latest work, Winter Journal, a reflection on the fragments that make up the mosaic of his life.
Tomorrow: Writer Cheryl Strayed talks about Dear Sugar, her popular advice column, and her best-selling memoir, Wild.
Wednesday: Author Steven Johnson and MIT professor Sherry Turkle explore how our hyperconnectivity through new technology impacts our social lives.
If you can’t make it to any of these events, come see Katie Roiphe next week to hear her discuss her essays on literature and contemporary life, gathered in her new collection, In Praise of Messy Lives.
You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. I don’t say this as a condemnation—I need regular reminders to stop feeling sorry for myself too. I’m going to address you bluntly, but it’s a directness that rises from my compassion for you, not my judgment of you. You must separate the global injustice (why should some be shackled by student loan debt when others aren’t?) from the individual reality (I’ll be paying this damn bill forever).
As you and other long-time readers of this column may know, I’m a socialist at heart, but when it comes to the actual, individual way we live our lives, I adhere to an entirely pull-oneself-up-by-one’s-bootstraps creed. Nobody’s going to do your life for you. You have to do it yourself, whether you’re rich or poor, out of money or raking it in, the beneficiary of ridiculous fortune or terrible injustice. And you have to do it no matter what is true. No matter what is hard. No matter what unjust, sad, sucky things have befallen you. Self-pity is a dead end road. You make the choice to drive down it. It’s up to you to decide to stay parked there or to turn around and drive out.
TUESDAY! CHERYL STRAYED in conversation with Paul Holdengräber. Get tickets here… (p.s. enter code “DEARSUGAR” at checkout for $10 off each General Admission ticket)
Artwork by Jaeil Cho
“Aspire always for greatness, but surrender to mediocrity.”
— Cheryl Strayed shares some worthwhile advice on removing the ego from the writing process.
If you want to glean more wisdom from Cheryl, come see her talk about her memoir, Wild, and her “Dear Sugar” advice column at LIVE from the NYPL on October 2!
Sometimes I think the reason I became a writer is because I’ve always felt others’ experiences so acutely. When I tell the people who write me letters that their problems keep me up at night, I’m not joking. I’ve been given a huge gift with this column, and I knew I would write it like a motherfucker, but I didn’t know people would embrace Sugar the way they have. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but the crosscurrent was always that I wanted to help people. I didn’t have total faith that I could help people with writing, but as Sugar I feel like I have helped in some small way.
—Cheryl Strayed, in an interview with Bitch Magazine
Read more of the interview here.
And if you want even more Cheryl, come see her at LIVE on October 2!
