Anne Lamott - Spiritual Fitness, Creative Process, and Redecorating the Abyss | The Tim Ferriss Show

Brought to you by: LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 1B+ users   / tim   Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating http://eightsleep.com/Tim LMNT electrolyte supplement (http://drinklmnt.com/tim). Watch my interview with Anne Lamott:    • How to Tame Your Inner Critic | Anne Lamott   Show Notes: https://tim.blog/2021/07/09/anne-lamo... Anne Lamott (@AnneLamott) uses honesty, empathy, and humor to write about our world. In her beloved and bestselling books, like Operating Instructions (an account of her son’s first year), Bird by Bird (her classic book on writing), and Help, Thanks, Wow (a celebration of prayer), Lamott delves into what makes us human. She explores the wide experience of life that unites us: birth and death, parenthood and family, faith and doubt, love and loss, forgiveness and hope. In each of her 19 books, which have sold millions of copies worldwide, Lamott brings her distinctive mix of bracing candor, clarifying insight, and refreshing humor to convert serious subjects like addiction, motherhood, loss, and faith into human truths we can all share. She is the author of several essay collections on faith, including Traveling Mercies, Grace (Eventually), and Plan B, as well as several novels, including Imperfect Birds, Blue Shoe, and Rosie. Lamott has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship and has taught at UC Davis and writing conferences across the country. She is an inductee of the California Hall of Fame and the subject of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock’s documentary Bird by Bird with Annie (1999). Her most recent book is Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage. Please enjoy! SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW LINK TO ALL SHOW TRANSCRIPTS: https://tim.blog/2018/09/20/all-trans... About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER:   / tferriss   Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM:   / timferriss   Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK:   / timferriss   Start [00:00] The far-reaching influence of Anne's book on writing, Bird by Bird [06:41] Where did the title of Bird by Bird originate? [10:10] Taming (but not discarding) your inner critic. [12:44] Who controls the dial when you’re tuned in to KFKD radio? [13:59] The butt-in-chair approach to writing. [15:06] What does being “spiritually fit” mean to Anne? [22:25] Anne's radical self-care. [28:05] The dark night that turned Anne’s son Sam’s life around. [35:50] An episode of Sam’s podcast I recommend. [41:32] When grace found Anne during her three-day blackout. [42:35] Coming to terms with childhood “oversensitivity." [47:41] Does Anne have a life philosophy? [51:01] A Tom Weston quote that gets misattributed to Anne. [56:34] Treating Anne’s anxiety disorder. [57:20] Writing rules and rewards. [1:02:29] A writing exercise and Anne’s new “pod” trick. [1:06:19] On sparing the feelings of those you feature in your autobiographical scrawlings. [1:11:13] How to find your story's direction. [1:13:22] Why Anne agreed to having a documentary made about her. [1:19:24] The greatest prayer and what its gift really is. [1:24:24] More on prayer. [1:30:24] The wisdom of “Horrible” Bonnie. [1:34:49] Dusk, Night, Dawn.—Anne's new book[1:41:12] A writing prayer. [1:45:07] We share our all-time favorite movies. [1:46:59] Parting thoughts and a final, quick story about grace and goodness. [1:53:48]