This Is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson
Can you choose happiness? Even in the midst of a very unlikely time to be happy? Read the stories the From Left to Write bloggers are sharing today, inspired by the book This Is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson.
- Elaine from Helen and Connor Grow Up remembers a comment from a friend “babies are not good for marriages“
- Alma Klein from Marketing Mommy says there are limits of unlikely happiness
- melanie from tales from the crib wonders whether to complain or not to complain
- Michelle from Honest & Truly! pushes through the unexpected
- Nicki from Suddenly Single Journey finds herself at a crossroads in her life
- Jen Bush from Anybody Want A Peanut? is finding the end of suffering
- Zen Mama Wannabe from Zen Mama Wannabe considers the aftermath of a crisis
- Meghan Harvey from Meg’s Idle Chatter tears up while reading about choosing happiness
- Darryle from I never signed up for this…. loves reading the Sunday New York Times Modern Love essay
- Sharon from Channeling Ricky connects the story to things beyond our control
- Neena from hooey!critic ponders the phrase “I don’t buy it”
- Kristine form Mommy Needs Therapy or a Bottle of Wine says this is not the life lesson you think it is
- Thien-Kim from I’m Not the Nanny determines that yes it is possible to choose to be happy
- Melissa from Life with Sophia wants to not want
- Lisa Hanneman from Hannemaniacs is sure this is not the post you think it is
- Roxane from Rox and Roll remembers verses about love
- Cristie Ritz King from The Traveling Circus made a decision to be happy
- Rachel from a little each day has waking dreams
- Linsey from Me Too You get schooled by her 4-year-old on taking actions to choose happiness
- Heidi from Coast 2 Coast Mom considers relying on other people for happiness
- Brenda Bartella Peterson from BrendaBartellaPeterson.com discusses controlling things in your control
About the book:
When Laura Munson’s essay was published, The New York Times was so flooded with responses that they had to close down the comment feature. Readers wrote in saying that they had sent the column to all of their friends. Therapists wrote Munson to tell her that they were passing it out to their clients.
What did Munson write that caused such a fervor?
Laura detailed what happened when her husband of more than twenty years told her he wasn’t sure he loved her anymore and wanted to move out. And while you might think you know where this story is going, this isn’t the story you think it is. Laura’s response to her husband: I don’t buy it.
In this poignant, wise, and often funny memoir, Munson recounts a period of months in which her faith in herself-and her marriage-was put to the test. Shaken to the core after the death of her beloved father, not finding the professional success that she had hoped for, and after countless hours of therapy, Laura finally, at age forty, realized she had to stop basing her happiness on things outside her control and commit herself to an “End of Suffering.” This Is Not The Story You Think It Is… chronicles a woman coming to terms with the myths we tell ourselves-and others-about our life and realizing that ultimately happiness is completely within our control.
Purchase your copy of This Is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson here.
_________________________________________________________
Full Disclosure: From Left to Write bloggers received complimentary copies of the book This Is Not the Story You Think It Is for use and participation in the From Left to Write Book Club. They were not obligated to write about this book.
My post is up now: http://formerlyaprildawn.blogspot.com/2010/07/not-story-id-hoped-it-would-be.html
I goofed – I thought the book club was Wednesday, so my post just went up this morning: http://www.3rsblog.com/2010/07/book-club-how-my-story-is-and-is-not.html
I also posted a more conventional review of the book yesterday (I’m a book blogger) if anyone is interested in that – it’s linked in the discussion post.