After my trip into Lena Dunham’s world (see here), I decided to give the whole autobiography of funny women another try and picked up Amy Poehler’s debut novel, Yes Please. Right away I loved how she offered up a slew of funny stories about her childhood, improv work, years in the television industry and even parenthood. But what resonated with me most was the moments she wasn’t being “funny.” Through her writing, she proves she is definitely wise, offering up some advice we can all use and many of her chapters are candidly beautiful.
I especially love the chapter on how to “Treat Your Career like a Bad Boyfriend” and how she clarifies between career and passion:
“Now, before I extend this metaphor, let me make a distinction between career and creativity. Creativity is connected to your passion, that light inside you that drives you. That joy that comes when you do something you love. That small voice that tells you, ‘I like this. Do this again. You are good at it. Keep going.’ That is the juicy stuff that lubricates our lives and helps us feel less alone in the world. Your creativity is not a bad boyfriend.
…You have to care about your work but not about the result. You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel, but not about how good people think you are or how good people think you look.”
Yes, Amy…you nailed it!
After reading Amy Poehler’s book, I felt like I knew her a little better and started to Youtube many of her more famous SNL skits. And as I familiarized myself with the world of Amy, I secretly kind of wished she was my friend. She would fit right in on our girls nights, gossiping and watching the Bachelor, perhaps.
So, if you are in need of some fun and fluffy stories combined with wise words and lots of heart, I highly recommend this inspired read. And then in a perfect world, we would all just become automatic friends with Amy Poehler 🙂 