16 Archives

Skip to content

ABOUT
- Meet Kate
  Hi, I’m Kate. I’m a Duke professor, podcaster, and author with a single mission: giving you permission to feel human. After years of being told I was incurable, I was declared cancer-free. But there’s no going back. I am forever changed by what I discovered: life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.
  ABOUT KATE
  Get to Know Me
  HUMAN
  AUTHOR
  PODCAST HOST
  SPEAKER
  
  How to Connect
  NEWSLETTER
  BOOKING
  EVENTS
  CONTACT
  PRESS
PODCAST
- Everything Happens.
  Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens.
  See All Episodes
  Tim Shriver
  How to Disagree Without Hating Each Other
  Listen Now How to Disagree Without Hating Each Other
  Bill Haslam
  You Might Be Wrong
  Listen Now You Might Be Wrong
  Mark Chaves
  Is There Really a Religious Revival?
  Listen Now Is There Really a Religious Revival?
  Diana Butler Bass
  Losing Religion
  Listen Now Losing Religion
BOOKS
- Books
  Let’s untangle our culture’s obsession with toxic positivity and self-help, shall we? Kate studies the cultural stories we tell ourselves about success, suffering, and whether (or not) we’re capable of change. She is the author of seven books including three instant New York Times bestsellers.
  All Books
  
  Joyful, Anyway
  
  Everything Happens for a Reason
  (And Other Lies I’ve Loved)
  
  Have a Beautiful Terrible Day!
  Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens
  
  No Cure for Being Human
  (And Other Truths I Need to Hear)
RESOURCES
- Resources
  Our goal with Everything Happens is to create rich language and vibrant community that sustains us when life comes apart. Below, you’ll find categories that may be good starting points for you. Inside are a mix of podcasts, blessings, support guides, and bonus resources that we hope will be useful.
  ALL RESOURCES
  Types
  BLESSINGS
  DEVOTIONALS
  SUPPORT GUIDES
  COURSES
  FREE DOWNLOADS
  Discussion Guides
  FOR MINISTRY
  
  Topics
  
  ILLNESS
  GRIEF
  WHAT NOT TO SAY
  RESILIENT FAITH
  INSPIRING LIVES
  NUANCED HOPE
  CARING AT HOME
  CARING AT WORK
  COMPLICATED FAMILIES
  MOVING FORWARD
MERCH
SUBSTACK

Kate Bowler

Read More Everyone’s From Somewhere
Read More Feeling Crappy? Navigating the Highs and Lows
Read More Cheers to The Crappies
Read More Never, Ever Enough
Read More You Are Not The Bad Thing
Read More The Sun Does Shine

End of content

Every week I usually forget most of the basics:
a) you are loved. b) life is absurd. c) it’s hard to be a human.

If you want some smart, kind, and funny encouragement to get you through your week, sign up for my newsletter. I’d love to be your reminder.

Follow along on socials

@katecbowler

I`ve always said that giving is very bad math.

You give away your time, your energy, your love. By all reasonable calculations, you should have less.

And yet. Somehow, joy comes rushing in to fill the gap.

It`s terrible arithmetic. I love it.

And few people understand this strange equation better than Tim Shriver (@timothyshriver).

As Chairman of @specialolympics and CEO and Co-Founder of @thedignityindex, Tim has spent his life asking what happens when we treat every person as someone with dignity.

Turns out, the people we think we`re helping have an astonishing amount to give us, too.

Comment TIM and I`ll send you the whole conversation.

324 35

Open post by katecbowler with ID 18122029000941384

I've always said that giving is very bad math.

You give away your time, your energy, your love. By all reasonable calculations, you should have less.

And yet. Somehow, joy comes rushing in to fill the gap.

It's terrible arithmetic. I love it.

And few people understand this strange equation better than Tim Shriver (@timothyshriver).

As Chairman of @specialolympics and CEO and Co-Founder of @thedignityindex, Tim has spent his life asking what happens when we treat every person as someone with dignity.

Turns out, the people we think we're helping have an astonishing amount to give us, too.

Comment TIM and I'll send you the whole conversation.

We have some very strange rules about grief. Keep it private. Don`t make anyone uncomfortable. And for heaven`s sake, try not to bring it up at a dinner party.

But grief has never been particularly interested in following the rules. And thank God for the people who make room for us to tell the truth about it.

Thank you, @AspenWords, for creating such a beautiful space for the conversations that matter most. What a gift to be together, @peterhreynolds and @timtalksbooks. ❤️

Photos by Hal Williams for Aspen Words-Aspen Institute.

972 30

Open post by katecbowler with ID 17954004081271422

We have some very strange rules about grief. Keep it private. Don't make anyone uncomfortable. And for heaven's sake, try not to bring it up at a dinner party.

But grief has never been particularly interested in following the rules. And thank God for the people who make room for us to tell the truth about it.

Thank you, @AspenWords, for creating such a beautiful space for the conversations that matter most. What a gift to be together, @peterhreynolds and @timtalksbooks. ❤️

Photos by Hal Williams for Aspen Words-Aspen Institute.

Bless you when you cannot see far ahead. May you do the next faithful thing in a world where Everything Happens.

5596 38

Open post by katecbowler with ID 18571369159075764

Bless you when you cannot see far ahead. May you do the next faithful thing in a world where Everything Happens.

People with special needs are not a punchline. Period.

13931 505

Open post by katecbowler with ID 18158238853450108

People with special needs are not a punchline. Period.

What is one thing this person loves that I`m not seeing?

I know. I KNOW. With everything going on, being curious about someone you’re already pretty sure you’ve figured out can feel like an unreasonable amount of emotional homework.

But the next time you catch yourself thinking you know exactly who someone is, try asking that one question.

What do they love that I haven’t bothered to notice?

And then, if you can, go find out. Ask them about it. Let them tell you something you didn`t know. Because goodness knows we could all use a little more curiosity about each other, especially when we`re so convinced we`re right.

2716 59

Open post by katecbowler with ID 18040515545849827

What is one thing this person loves that I'm not seeing?

I know. I KNOW. With everything going on, being curious about someone you’re already pretty sure you’ve figured out can feel like an unreasonable amount of emotional homework.

But the next time you catch yourself thinking you know exactly who someone is, try asking that one question.

What do they love that I haven’t bothered to notice?

And then, if you can, go find out. Ask them about it. Let them tell you something you didn't know. Because goodness knows we could all use a little more curiosity about each other, especially when we're so convinced we're right.

Does anyone else feel like everything is urgent right now? Every headline, every heartbreak, every new thing we’re supposed to care about. It’s hard to know where to begin.

Today’s Substack post asks a question I keep coming back to: How do we live now?

And I think part of the answer might be small kindnesses. The ordinary acts of love that won’t make headlines but might make someone’s Tuesday bearable.

Don’t wait until you can change the whole world. Find the good that is yours to do. And do it.

Even when you cannot see what grows.

Comment KIND for a link to today’s post, or tell us one small act of kindness you’ll try this week. ❤️

2700 99

Open post by katecbowler with ID 17998555743035838

Does anyone else feel like everything is urgent right now? Every headline, every heartbreak, every new thing we’re supposed to care about. It’s hard to know where to begin.

Today’s Substack post asks a question I keep coming back to: How do we live now?

And I think part of the answer might be small kindnesses. The ordinary acts of love that won’t make headlines but might make someone’s Tuesday bearable.

Don’t wait until you can change the whole world. Find the good that is yours to do. And do it.

Even when you cannot see what grows.

Comment KIND for a link to today’s post, or tell us one small act of kindness you’ll try this week. ❤️

“The other fella (or gal) might be right.”

Well, there’s a thought. Especially when we’re so very certain that the other person is WRONG. And possibly an idiot.

But what if we started there? With a little more curiosity and a little less contempt?

This week on @everythinghappens, I sat down with my friend Bill Haslam (@billhaslamtn), former Governor of Tennessee, to talk about the increasingly lost art of disagreeing without dismissing each other. Bill knows a thing or two about leading people who don`t see eye to eye.

And the best part? We filmed it with my divinity school students, who are about to go out and lead people who may not think, look, act, or vote like them.

Because loving your neighbor gets a lot more complicated when your neighbor has a yard sign you hate.

Comment BILL and I’ll send you a link to watch the full conversation.

685 131

Open post by katecbowler with ID 18192004804397518

“The other fella (or gal) might be right.”

Well, there’s a thought. Especially when we’re so very certain that the other person is WRONG. And possibly an idiot.

But what if we started there? With a little more curiosity and a little less contempt?

This week on @everythinghappens, I sat down with my friend Bill Haslam (@billhaslamtn), former Governor of Tennessee, to talk about the increasingly lost art of disagreeing without dismissing each other. Bill knows a thing or two about leading people who don't see eye to eye.

And the best part? We filmed it with my divinity school students, who are about to go out and lead people who may not think, look, act, or vote like them.

Because loving your neighbor gets a lot more complicated when your neighbor has a yard sign you hate.

Comment BILL and I’ll send you a link to watch the full conversation.

Contempt feels great. That’s the problem.

@timothyshriver says it works like a pain reliever: it bonds us to our people and takes the edge off our fear. Until we get hooked.

Our full conversation with Tim, on dignity, the Special Olympics, and how to disagree without demonizing anyone, drops next week. 🎧

Before next week, take Tim’s 2-minute challenge: look up @thedignityindex at dignity.us and score the last political conversation you had. Brace yourself.

504 5

Open post by katecbowler with ID 18173495842454426

Contempt feels great. That’s the problem.

@timothyshriver says it works like a pain reliever: it bonds us to our people and takes the edge off our fear. Until we get hooked.

Our full conversation with Tim, on dignity, the Special Olympics, and how to disagree without demonizing anyone, drops next week. 🎧

Before next week, take Tim’s 2-minute challenge: look up @thedignityindex at dignity.us and score the last political conversation you had. Brace yourself.

If you are reading this you have great eyesight. But also, thanks for being a person with me. The world is strange and hard for soft-hearted humans, but I think you’re a delight.

About
Resources
Contact
Podcasts
Books
MERCH
Mural
Upcoming Events
Newsletter
Blessings

Everything Happens.

ABOUT
- Meet Kate
  Hi, I’m Kate. I’m a Duke professor, podcaster, and author with a single mission: giving you permission to feel human. After years of being told I was incurable, I was declared cancer-free. But there’s no going back. I am forever changed by what I discovered: life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.
  ABOUT KATE
  Get to Know Me
  HUMAN
  AUTHOR
  PODCAST HOST
  SPEAKER
  
  How to Connect
  NEWSLETTER
  BOOKING
  EVENTS
  CONTACT
  PRESS
PODCAST
- Everything Happens.
  Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens.
  See All Episodes
  Tim Shriver
  How to Disagree Without Hating Each Other
  Listen Now How to Disagree Without Hating Each Other
  Bill Haslam
  You Might Be Wrong
  Listen Now You Might Be Wrong
  Mark Chaves
  Is There Really a Religious Revival?
  Listen Now Is There Really a Religious Revival?
  Diana Butler Bass
  Losing Religion
  Listen Now Losing Religion
BOOKS
- Books
  Let’s untangle our culture’s obsession with toxic positivity and self-help, shall we? Kate studies the cultural stories we tell ourselves about success, suffering, and whether (or not) we’re capable of change. She is the author of seven books including three instant New York Times bestsellers.
  All Books
  
  Joyful, Anyway
  
  Everything Happens for a Reason
  (And Other Lies I’ve Loved)
  
  Have a Beautiful Terrible Day!
  Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens
  
  No Cure for Being Human
  (And Other Truths I Need to Hear)
RESOURCES
- Resources
  Our goal with Everything Happens is to create rich language and vibrant community that sustains us when life comes apart. Below, you’ll find categories that may be good starting points for you. Inside are a mix of podcasts, blessings, support guides, and bonus resources that we hope will be useful.
  ALL RESOURCES
  Types
  BLESSINGS
  DEVOTIONALS
  SUPPORT GUIDES
  COURSES
  FREE DOWNLOADS
  Discussion Guides
  FOR MINISTRY
  
  Topics
  
  ILLNESS
  GRIEF
  WHAT NOT TO SAY
  RESILIENT FAITH
  INSPIRING LIVES
  NUANCED HOPE
  CARING AT HOME
  CARING AT WORK
  COMPLICATED FAMILIES
  MOVING FORWARD
MERCH
SUBSTACK

Meet Kate

Get to Know Me

How to Connect

Everything Happens.

Books

Joyful, Anyway

Everything Happens for a Reason

Have a Beautiful Terrible Day!

No Cure for Being Human

Resources

Types

Topics

Every week I usually forget most of the basics: a) you are loved. b) life is absurd. c) it’s hard to be a human.

Follow along on socials

Everything Happens.

Browse by topic

Meet Kate

Get to Know Me

How to Connect

Everything Happens.

Books

Joyful, Anyway

Everything Happens for a Reason

Have a Beautiful Terrible Day!

No Cure for Being Human

Resources

Types

Topics

Every week I usually forget most of the basics:
a) you are loved. b) life is absurd. c) it’s hard to be a human.