How timely. I just ended a long-term relationship last night with a good man, but one who makes habitual choices that limit his emotional capacity to be fully present in his life. He was never cruel or mean, just sometimes careless. And more importantly, I have the capacity to offer more and want more, so I knew the end was inevitable. Once I realized that I was reminded of what Liz Gilbert has said, that as soon as you know something about yourself that is likely to drastically affect someone else's life you are honor-bound to tell them. So, I told him. And now I have to make a door.
I have never read Keep Moving, but I will order it today. It is the right medicine for this moment.
Oct 6, 2023·edited Oct 6, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith
The wisdom within the pages of “Keep Moving” has helped me through my runaway husband trauma. I can’t change what I can’t change, but I can breathe through it and grow from it. “Keep Moving” reminds me that I am strong, smart, kind, and my own best encourager. And while it’s not in this powerful little book, the Maggie Smith wisdom that has kept me moving forward is, “I don’t think it’s my responsibility to forgive. I can let go without doing that.“ As a matter of fact, it’s written on my bathroom mirror as a reminder that, in this situation, it really is all about me. And that's OK.
KEEP MOVING sits atop the pile of books beside my reading chair. I've bought the book five times now, for friends and family currently going through . . . stuff. Your words moved me, inspired me, and reminded me that the NOW is not forever, unless you make it so by an unhealthy clinging to a dead horse. God, why do we do that?
So thank you, thank you. KEEP MOVING is an orange mini-masterpiece. :-)
I came across Keep Moving last month at my local Barnes and Noble - I'm in Columbus too:). I opened it to a random page, read it and promptly bought it. As I'm a huge audiobook listener I then got it on audio and binged the whole book on 2 long walks in the woods- what a perfect way to listen to you share what for me was a gigantic hug and dose of encouragement at the exact time I needed it. Now I leave the hard copy of Keep Moving in my kitchen next to the coffee pot and with a couple other inspiring books and every morning I open it to a random page and start the day off with hope and encouragement from you. Thank you❤️
“every ending is also a beginning, and we don’t necessarily know of what” - I needed to hear this today. I’m grieving two hard endings, but this reminds me they’re the beginning in my next stage of growth. Thanks Maggie ❤️🩹
A dear friend of mine was going through a heartbreaking divorce in 2020. She was stuck having to quarantine with an emotionally abusive husband and she felt she could never move out from under him. I gifted her this book because I knew she could keep moving and move on. Three years later, and she is in her new home with a new man who loves her in all the ways she deserves. Thank you, Maggie! Your words do heal.
Dear Maggie, Keep Moving came into my life a couple of months ago at just the right time. I gifted it to myself as soon as I learned it existed and every day I kept it at the table where I ate my breakfast, in my solitude, a year on from the end of my marriage. I was confronting my own beginnings and endings (in fact, had been building a playlist with that name to take on my walks) and it seemed every page had a message you had written just for me. I am sure everyone feels that way reading these messages of love and hope. Yes, hope is an act of imaginative courage. Thank you for writing this book, for letting me relax into the unknown of leaving my marriage (my own choice, but still...), 33 years of all I had known. I am different from that 29-year-old woman who got married all those years ago, and then again, not so very different. Isn't it just another layer, another skin I've stepped out of and into the next? This past week I finally launched the Substack I had been contemplating for many months, fearful of writing about themes so personal to my own life, and the courage of your memoir inspired me in so many ways. I turn to my copy of Keep Moving that now sits on my desk and open to these words: "Revise the story you tell yourself about starting over. Consider not only how terrifying change can be but also how exhilarating. Consider this time an opportunity to make a new and improved life." I am in revision, the unfolding me.
I just love this book. I got it fairly early in lockdown time, when so much outside my little world was changing rapidly. It helped me be intentional about what I could and couldn’t influence, and where I wanted to lean in and where I could at last let go. It was like hearing from a wise friend--one I could consult in the wee hours of insomnia when everything dire is magnified, or in odd fifteen minute breaks between Handling Life tasks. I’m so glad you found a process that worked to get you through that time and that you shared it with the rest of us. Thank you!
How timely. I just ended a long-term relationship last night with a good man, but one who makes habitual choices that limit his emotional capacity to be fully present in his life. He was never cruel or mean, just sometimes careless. And more importantly, I have the capacity to offer more and want more, so I knew the end was inevitable. Once I realized that I was reminded of what Liz Gilbert has said, that as soon as you know something about yourself that is likely to drastically affect someone else's life you are honor-bound to tell them. So, I told him. And now I have to make a door.
I have never read Keep Moving, but I will order it today. It is the right medicine for this moment.
Thank you for this, Asha. I love that Liz Gilbert advice. So wise. Sending care at this time of transition. x
The wisdom within the pages of “Keep Moving” has helped me through my runaway husband trauma. I can’t change what I can’t change, but I can breathe through it and grow from it. “Keep Moving” reminds me that I am strong, smart, kind, and my own best encourager. And while it’s not in this powerful little book, the Maggie Smith wisdom that has kept me moving forward is, “I don’t think it’s my responsibility to forgive. I can let go without doing that.“ As a matter of fact, it’s written on my bathroom mirror as a reminder that, in this situation, it really is all about me. And that's OK.
More than OK! Love and solidarity, Denise.
KEEP MOVING sits atop the pile of books beside my reading chair. I've bought the book five times now, for friends and family currently going through . . . stuff. Your words moved me, inspired me, and reminded me that the NOW is not forever, unless you make it so by an unhealthy clinging to a dead horse. God, why do we do that?
So thank you, thank you. KEEP MOVING is an orange mini-masterpiece. :-)
Thank you so much. 🧡🧡🧡
I came across Keep Moving last month at my local Barnes and Noble - I'm in Columbus too:). I opened it to a random page, read it and promptly bought it. As I'm a huge audiobook listener I then got it on audio and binged the whole book on 2 long walks in the woods- what a perfect way to listen to you share what for me was a gigantic hug and dose of encouragement at the exact time I needed it. Now I leave the hard copy of Keep Moving in my kitchen next to the coffee pot and with a couple other inspiring books and every morning I open it to a random page and start the day off with hope and encouragement from you. Thank you❤️
As a fellow woods walker and coffee lover, I’m so happy to know all of this. Thank YOU.
“every ending is also a beginning, and we don’t necessarily know of what” - I needed to hear this today. I’m grieving two hard endings, but this reminds me they’re the beginning in my next stage of growth. Thanks Maggie ❤️🩹
Love & solidarity, Monika.
🐛🦋 🧡
Such a treasure of a book! I keep it close - always!
🧡🙏
A dear friend of mine was going through a heartbreaking divorce in 2020. She was stuck having to quarantine with an emotionally abusive husband and she felt she could never move out from under him. I gifted her this book because I knew she could keep moving and move on. Three years later, and she is in her new home with a new man who loves her in all the ways she deserves. Thank you, Maggie! Your words do heal.
I’m so happy for her! Friendship is a powerful healer, too. I’m glad she had you through that. 💗
So, Keep Moving and I share a birthday.
I am, by well over 5 decades, the older.
It is, by all accounts, the wiser.
Dear Maggie, Keep Moving came into my life a couple of months ago at just the right time. I gifted it to myself as soon as I learned it existed and every day I kept it at the table where I ate my breakfast, in my solitude, a year on from the end of my marriage. I was confronting my own beginnings and endings (in fact, had been building a playlist with that name to take on my walks) and it seemed every page had a message you had written just for me. I am sure everyone feels that way reading these messages of love and hope. Yes, hope is an act of imaginative courage. Thank you for writing this book, for letting me relax into the unknown of leaving my marriage (my own choice, but still...), 33 years of all I had known. I am different from that 29-year-old woman who got married all those years ago, and then again, not so very different. Isn't it just another layer, another skin I've stepped out of and into the next? This past week I finally launched the Substack I had been contemplating for many months, fearful of writing about themes so personal to my own life, and the courage of your memoir inspired me in so many ways. I turn to my copy of Keep Moving that now sits on my desk and open to these words: "Revise the story you tell yourself about starting over. Consider not only how terrifying change can be but also how exhilarating. Consider this time an opportunity to make a new and improved life." I am in revision, the unfolding me.
I just love this book. I got it fairly early in lockdown time, when so much outside my little world was changing rapidly. It helped me be intentional about what I could and couldn’t influence, and where I wanted to lean in and where I could at last let go. It was like hearing from a wise friend--one I could consult in the wee hours of insomnia when everything dire is magnified, or in odd fifteen minute breaks between Handling Life tasks. I’m so glad you found a process that worked to get you through that time and that you shared it with the rest of us. Thank you!