Quotes by Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum

A lot of the reason I left New York, in addition to being so broke, was that I just felt I was becoming provincial in that way that only New Yorkers are. My points of reference were really insular. They were insular in that fantastic New York way, but they didn’t go much beyond that. I didn’t have any sense of class and geography, because the economy of New York is so specific. So I definitely had access and exposure to a huge variety of people that I wouldn’t have had if I’d stayed in New York – much more so in Nebraska even than in L.A.

Economy

People

Reason

And why the hell should you do a really hard, important job that you don’t want to do? That has extremely high stakes? That just blows my mind.

Blow

Important

Mind

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve felt I have more authority on that subject. I think the conversation needs to be reframed. What I hate – a lot of conversations about choosing not to have children tend to be couched in these superficial terms, or kind of glib, “I’d rather have a Porsche” or “I forgot to have kids.” No you didn’t.

Children

Hate

Kids

As soon as I accepted that I am this kind of writer and I happen to live here, and stopped going to meetings and stopped beating myself up because I wasn’t making a ton of money writing for some stupid sitcom, I felt really at home.

Home

Stupid

Writing

Being in the entertainment industry in L.A. is the equivalent to being in the publishing industry in New York. You don’t ever have to hangout with anybody else.

Publishing

Evan Handler is not only a fine actor, he’s a damn good writer. It’s Only Temporary is wise and funny and as righteously indignant as it is endearingly self-effacing. In what may be a literary first, the book actually left me wanting more.

Book

Self

Wise

For me, one of the reasons I love this form – the personal essay form – is because it’s a way of forming an intimacy with the reader. What I’m saying to the reader is: I’m going to tell you something; I’m going to be generous; I’m going to offer. The confession, on the other hand, is sort of an imposition because you’re asking the reader to forgive you or somehow exonerate you or say, “Hey, I’m even worse.” But what I’m interested in doing is being generous and offering a perspective or suggesting a way of thinking about something.

Forgiving

Perspective

Thinking

I am not and will never again be a young writer, a young homeowner, a young teacher. I was never a young wife. The only thing I could do now for which my youth would be a truly notable feature would be to die. If I died now, I’d die young. Everything else, I’m doing middle-aged.

Teacher

Wife

Young Writers

I don’t keep a diary or a journal. Sometimes I’ll send emails to friends and that’s a way of recording what I was thinking at any given time. But I’ve never been a journal keeper. I feel like part of that is because I’m always on deadline. I’ve been a freelancer my entire career and, at any given time, I have several deadlines for all sorts of things whether it’s some magazine piece or ad copywriting or anything. Obviously, people with deadlines keep journals all the time but, for me, the idea of doing more writing is never appealing. It’s why I never blog.

People

Thinking

Writing

I don’t understand why it’s more socially acceptable to say that you are a shallow person than to just say this is not something you want to do. Especially because it’s a really hard job. It’s a really important job. And why the hell should you do a really hard, important job that you don’t want to do? That has extremely high stakes? That just blows my mind.

Blow

Jobs

Shallow Person

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Accepting

Air

Asking

Blow

Book

Children

Cities

Class

College

Culture

Daughter

Definitions

Dog

Done

Drama

Economy

Emotion

Emotional

Epic

Feminist

Firsts

Forgiving

Growth

Hate

Healing

Home

House

Important

Jobs

Journey

Kids

Laughing

Mean

Meaningful

Mind

Mother

Motherhood

Moving

New York

Parenthood

Party

People

Perspective

Phones

Publishing

Reason

Self

Sex

Shallow Person

Silly

The Future Blueprint

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Quotes by Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum

And why the hell should you do a really hard, important job that you don’t want to do? That has extremely high stakes? That just blows my mind.

As soon as I accepted that I am this kind of writer and I happen to live here, and stopped going to meetings and stopped beating myself up because I wasn’t making a ton of money writing for some stupid sitcom, I felt really at home.

Being in the entertainment industry in L.A. is the equivalent to being in the publishing industry in New York. You don’t ever have to hangout with anybody else.

Evan Handler is not only a fine actor, he’s a damn good writer. It’s Only Temporary is wise and funny and as righteously indignant as it is endearingly self-effacing. In what may be a literary first, the book actually left me wanting more.

I am not and will never again be a young writer, a young homeowner, a young teacher. I was never a young wife. The only thing I could do now for which my youth would be a truly notable feature would be to die. If I died now, I’d die young. Everything else, I’m doing middle-aged.

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Topics by Meghan Daum

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The Future Blueprint

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

The Autobiography

The Behaviour Diary

The Dating Diary

The Relationship Therapist

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