patti digh

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Thanks for being here. You might also enjoy visiting my blog, 37days!

Book Tour starts Oct 16th!

[Rock My World rocks by Kim Mailhot]

I'm so excited to hit the road and share The Six Creative Commitments from my newest book, Creative is a Verb: If You're Alive, You're Creative. I hope you'll join me at one of my stops - there will be magic and laughs and bookmarks and beautiful touchstones!

 

life is complex, not complicated.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.  -Confucius

There are three kinds of problems: simple (baking a cake), complicated (a moon launch), and complex (raising a child or finding meaning in your life).

Most of us mistake what is complex with what is merely complicated. We create more strategic plans and worksheets and believe we must invest in expensive solutions to the complicated issues of our day.

What if life is complex, not complicated? What if the counterintuitive response of simplifying is exactly the right one?

After a wee bit of a rant on Twitter about this confusion of the complicated and the complex, I started creating what I called "four-word self-help" books... and people started writing to see if they could print them out for their management team and their church for Advent.

Soon a book was born, coming out this September. Here's the publisher's description of it.

Pithy, provocative, poignant advice on a variety of
self-help topics—in four well-chosen words

Is life really all that complicated? What if we could solve all our problems with just four simple words?

Four-Word Self-Help is a pithy nod to the fact that life is simpler than we try to make it. It shows how the truisms for most of our woes can be boiled down to four well-chosen words. Author Patti Digh (Life is a Verb) takes the issues of our busy, burdened days and proves that rather than “solving” a complexity with another complexity, the answer may well lie in simple actions. 

Following an introduction reflecting on the power of words in self-improvement and self-discovery, Patti introduces twelve hot-button “issues”—each addressed by wise and witty four-word missives, 101 in total. Each concise nugget of advice has been interpreted in original art submitted by artists from around the world, making this book a visual feast for those who could, simply, use just a little bit of help and inspiration.

be a surge protector

eat less, move more

use your own voice

give up toxic people

 

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Beautifully illustrated by readers of my blog from around the world, this feels like another artistic "barn-raising."

I hope you will love it in its simplicity. If you pre-order it online from Barnes and Noble, it encourages them to sell it in their brick and mortar stores and, perhaps, to invite me to those stores to do readings perched on a tiny high stool. The same is true for calling up your local independent bookshop to ask them to pre-order it for you. And we love independent bookshops, we surely do.

White Hot Truth: Burning questions with Patti Digh

Patti appears (21 March 2010) in Danielle LaPorte's White Hot Truth, "Burning Questions with Patti Digh: Poetic Choices".

 

Patti delivers her message to 3,500 counselors at ACA Annual Convention

Patti recently gave the opening keynote to 3,500 at the American Counseling Association's (ACA) annual meeting at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, followed by a sold-out book signing. An excellent article on Patti's speech appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here. 

What People are Saying about "Life is a Verb" and "37days"

Some of the Reviews of Life is a Verb:

“Patti Digh writes like her hair is burning..."  --Cravingbalance.com

"Damn, girl. You write good.” -Lee Hancock, Dallas Morning News

"What I am trying to do is find a way to describe how grateful I am that she and her work have come into my life."--Sarah Morgan

"I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: I adore Patti Digh’s book Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally. I love her writing, her depth, her sizzle. This is a book that makes me sing with life and the possibilities we all have for transformation and awareness. It is the best antidote I’ve got these days for the pain and fear raging around us--that and loving hugs, long naps, fervent prayer and letting myself feel whatever I’m feeling." -Jennifer Louden, author of The Woman's Comfort Book

“The  37days blog is one of my daily must-reads…"

“Life is a verb-alicious thang…”--Virtual Tea House

"As further proof that the most inspiring and joyous of art is often born of the most dire and dour of experiences, I give you Patti Digh and the magnificent, powerful, astonishing collection of stories she has written on her blog, 37 Days, and compiled as a book, Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful and Live Intentionally.  ….the result is sublime. No, “sublime” is overused and inadequate: the result is an astonishing, rich, gorgeous collection of beautifully written essays that simultaneously make me want to keep reading (faster! faster!) and throw down the book and have at it myself. They’re livable lessons that don’t feel preachy, complex ideas rendered wondrously clear."--the Communicatrix

“Life is a verb indeed!”--Sunday School Rebel

“A book to help you with your bucket list.”--Squidoo

"Life is a Verb is brilliantly-crafted, raw, gorgeously-designed, and daringly different from ‘self-help’ books. It relates, through stories that sparkle and astonish and soar, how to move, to be on your way, to realize who you really are through your actions. Every word of this book is essential."
-Dave Pollard, author of How to Save the World and Finding the Sweet Spot: The Natural Entrepreneur's Guide to Responsible, Sustainable, Joyful Work

"In short, as I read on, I found myself getting sharper and smarter. I considered why it might be better to make a mistake -- and learn from it -- than strain to get everything right."--    Jesse Kornbluth, for HeadButler.com

"Reading Life is a Verb is like mainlining goodness. Digh shows us what is real and what matters, and she gives us insiders tips on how to make minuscule life corrections that result in quantum shifts in experience. Her writing is laugh out loud funny and more profound than Zen koans. Let her wise counsel guide you to live your life gratefully and as a work of art  This will surely be the last self-help book you will ever need or want to read."
-Patricia Ryan Madson, Stanford Emerita and author of Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up

“This book is one you'll want on your nightstand.”  Weread.com/review

"Thank you...for how you've chosen to consider that question and respond to it ... for your marvelous book, Life is a Verb (I can't wait to hold it in my hands!) ... for posting my "37 days..." thoughts on your blog ... for all the com/passionate living and loving your work inspires!

"This is a book to be savoured. I loved its message, its colours, even the feel of its paper. A book that encourages you to "inhabit your own story” is well worth recommending and taking to heart."--Mary Anne Moore, Synergy Magazine

“Life is a Verb is my SAD light this winter, providing more sparkle, illumination and brilliance than any 10,000 kilowatt lamp could ever come close to providing. “-Jodi, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

"Patti Digh, author of Life Is A Verb, + David David Robinson = Quality. Substance. Devotion. I participated in their free seminar last week on "Playing with your blocks." They didn't waste anytime getting to the sage stuff. Patti's opening question melted my heart and echoed the question I am living: "If you could imagine that your art could provide everything you needed in your life, how would you approach your art?" If I'd paid $500 bucks for that phone call, I would have got my money's worth in the first five minutes."--White Hot Truth

"Oh, wait - did I just say written by Patti? Well, it is, the words are hers. But the sense I get when I read her book, or her blog, 37 Days, is more that Patti is one part of a lovely interconnected web of people, places and experiences, and while she does write from her unique perspective from her place on the web, she's also able to take a deep breath, somehow put herself above it all, and write from a place of seeing the connections within the web."--Open-Hearted Life

“Gay, bisexual, or straight, living deliberately and authentically requires not just courage and perseverance, but also a practical guide. Patti provides us great insights and useful exercises that make it more likely we’ll all experience spiritual health.”
-Brian McNaught, author of Are You Guys Brothers?

“I have never seen such a simultaneously practical, aesthetically beautiful, and soul-caressing book in my life.” -Kichiro Hayashi, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan.

“Life is a Verb is a wonderful treat! Good exercises, stories, and examples. Reading it will help you appreciate just how much can be gained through living with intention. It’s also a lot of fun.”
-Roger von Oech, author of A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative

A Sampling of the thousands of comments from Patti’s blog, “37days”, from which Life is a Verb emerged:

“Patti Digh is a magician who is able to call to the noblest, most generous self inside each of us, while at the same time commiserating about the little failures and challenges which life delivers on an unscheduled basis. She is fearless in baring her soul, and her writing is engaging to the reader in a fashion which leaves one compelled to feel what she writes to one's very depths.” -Rick, Denver, Colorado

“It’s intelligent, thoughtful, inspiring and real. Please don’t ever stop.” –New Zealand

“Another stunning post from Patti Digh… -London

“You are my best guide. Ever.” –Israel

“Your story is powerful and meaningful and can inspire others. It seriously is the best I have ever read.”- New Zealand

“Patti Digh's work will not change your life. Instead, it'll open your eyes to just how brilliantly, miraculously, amazingly important your existence already is.” -Siona, Boulder, Colorado

“I have lived more than 74 years and you made me cry—I don’t cry often. I think I may have lived too long, seen too much, and  loved too little.” – U.S.

“All of us struggle at times with questions of identity and purpose - Who am I? What should I make of my life?  Patti Digh perceptively guides us to the answers....[Yeah, it's so serious. But I'm sure your publisher would never choose this blurb: 'Patti Digh is THE MOST AWESOME WRITER EVAH! This book is full of win.']” -Kim, Columbus, Ohio

“You make me stop and examine my own reactions and behaviors.” -California

“I cannot possibly tell you how significant your reflections are to me…I am quiet over them.” –Washington, D.C.

“You're helping all of us to say what we know and act on those truths.” –California “

“Your writing totally captivates me.” –India

“I continue to read 37days with awe and delight, and often with a profound awakening to ideas and possibility.” –France

“Last week's piece left me unable to move.” –U.S.

“You are just the best writer I know. And this week’s 37days is a masterpiece. It is a mystery, a love story, a drama and a fable all wrapped up in one compelling 10 minute read. I don't know how you do it but I sure hope you never stop! -Germany