Chapter 102: Susan Cain on bathing in beauty, books, and bittersweetness

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This is a very unique chapter!

It is a double chapter, in a way.

To begin with I was so lucky to interview Susan Cain at our very first live chapter of 3 Books at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. So many 3 Bookers came out and celebrated on a snowy night just before the pandemic began. (We had no idea!) At the time Susan was deep in the throes of writing her new book Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole but as we discuss a lot of her work in process we didn’t want to scoop the book so held onto this conversation until it was ready for the world.

Well, it’s ready for the world! Bittersweet just came out and debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list! How did we celebrate? By having another conversation, of course! Susan and I partnered with the wonderful indie bookstore Magic City Books of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and just conducted a live book tour stop together.

So Chapter 102 of 3 Books is a double interview! Our first ever. It’s a before and after. Two live conversations with you hanging out between us pre- and (can we say post yet?) post-pandemic.

Listen to Susan and I discuss: bathing ourselves in beauty, the power of reading, exploring identity, honoring our children, the tension between family and art, the benefits of envy, the nature of sorrow and longing, and, of course, the brilliant Susan Cain’s 3 most formative books.

Let’s flip the page into Chapter 102 now…

Chapter 102: Susan Cain on bathing in beauty, books and bittersweetness

What You'll Learn:

  • How do make reading a family activity?

  • How can we manage FOMO?

  • How do books allow you to explore your identity?

  • How should we think about gender norms?

  • How do we go about letting our children feel honored?

  • Can family and love coexist with art?

  • Why should a question be at the center of all writing projects? 

  • How are personality profiles helpful?

  • How can envy be a useful emotion?

  • What is longing?

  • How can we use our longing?

  • Where can we find beauty and why should we immerse ourselves in it?

Notable quotes from Susan:

“There are a thousand messages that the world is sending you all the time, that unwittingly stand in between you and the life that you really are meant to be leading and I think you have to be really thoughtful .. and really proactive about figuring out how do you really truly want to be spending your time.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“If we were ever able to get to the point of letting go of, I shouldn't do X because X is weird or X is not what's socially acceptable, we'd be completely different beings.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“You read a book and you are like mainlining into another person's heart and soul and they into yours.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“We all have different obstacles that stand between us and where we're supposed to be.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“I think all of us are different people, depending on who we're with.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“There's plenty of room to love the people around you and honor the people around you AND be your full self.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“If you truly believe that your children should be who they are, your children are gonna know that.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“We all want a world where everybody is completely safe and kind and loved and everything, and we're never going to get there, but there's something about the yearning for that, that unleashes our best and deepest selves and our most creative selves….and our divine selves.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“We should start our days by immersing ourselves in beauty.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

“There's such a ridiculous amount of beauty all over the place or the sacred …so it's a question of orienting towards that.” Susan Cain #3bookspodcast

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