I’ve been trying to lose a few pounds since Christmas.  Who hasn’t? (If you haven’t because you don’t care, that’s great.  If you haven’t because you have a killer metabolism and supermodel genes, we don’t want to hear from you.  We love you but we just can’t. You understand.)

So I’ve been on the Christmas/Valentine’s Day/March Madness merry-go round these last few months, gaining and losing like the stock market in ‘29.  (And March Madness doesn’t mean I’m eating while watching basketball; it means that it’s March and I’m mad.  Because I was supposed to be a willowy waif by March and–spoiler alert–I’m not.)  But I decided that just because I marched in like a (chubby) lion doesn’t mean I can’t march out like a lean and leggy lamb.  

And so I made my resolution for April:  lesser portions, less mindless munching and above all, less sugar.

Actually, less sugar is for wimps.  Nobody’s doing less sugar these days; it’s all or nothing.  So let’s say no sugar.  No sugar for April.  Because it’s 2018 and we have Whole30 and Paleo and Oprah whowon’tgoaway and everyone and their skinny dog knows by now that sugar is the Devil.  (They should just start putting a pitchfork and horns on each bag sold in stores since we aren’t all terrified enough.) Read more

So by now you’ve probably hear of Jordan Peterson, author of 12 Rules for Life:  An Antidote to Chaos.  He is all over social media and the news outlets and is surprisingly controversial.  (I think it’s because he says men and women are different. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised.)  Always a half-step behind, I heard of him just a few weeks ago when my husband sent me a podcast of Peterson discussing his new book.  I listened to the podcast and began the book that same day. I started reading and couldn’t stop. I ignored my house, my kids, and my prayers while I gulped down these ideas like the breath of fresh air they are.  (Just kidding on the prayers except that no I’m not.)

What is this book about?  Um, everything.  The title is literal; it’s about how to better live your life or, as Peterson puts it, how to achieve a better state of Being.  (“Being” being an active, conscious awareness of yourself and those around you. It’s not as psychobabble as it sounds, promise.)  I hesitate to call this a “self-help” book because it transcends that cringe-worthy category, but truthfully, it kind of is. It really is.  As in, it really helped me understand some important things about myself–and others–in a new, compelling way.  For example:

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