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Kate Bowler

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
  
  Oliver Burkeman
  New Year, Same Me
  Listen Now New Year, Same Me
  Kelly Corrigan
  Feeling Happy? Navigating the Highs and Lows with Kelly Corrigan
  Listen Now Feeling Happy? Navigating the Highs and Lows with Kelly Corrigan
  Kelly Corrigan
  Feeling Crappy? Navigating the Highs and Lows
  Listen Now Feeling Crappy? Navigating the Highs and Lows
  Safiya Sinclair
  Rewriting Roots
  Listen Now Rewriting Roots
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
  
  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
  
  Topics
  
  ILLNESS
  
  GRIEF
  
  WHAT NOT TO SAY
  
  RESILIENT FAITH
  
  INSPIRING LIVES
  
  NUANCED HOPE
  
  CARING AT HOME
  
  CARING AT WORK
  
  COMPLICATED FAMILIES
  
  MOVING FORWARD

Kate Bowler

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.

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First Last

Email(Required)

I’m also interested in church/ministry resources sent monthly.

I want to receive newsletters once a month

Follow along on socials

@katecbowler

It seems only fitting to reshare this clip from my interview with @sharonsaysso. Whether it`s fire, floods, disease, grief, loss, or something else - life will inevitably break our hearts wide open to the needs of others.

The sheer magnitude of it all can feel like simply too much. But as Sharon so beautifully says, "In moments like this, do for one person what you wish you could do for everyone."

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It seems only fitting to reshare this clip from my interview with @sharonsaysso. Whether it's fire, floods, disease, grief, loss, or something else - life will inevitably break our hearts wide open to the needs of others.

The sheer magnitude of it all can feel like simply too much. But as Sharon so beautifully says, "In moments like this, do for one person what you wish you could do for everyone."

“Try January” has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning, hasn’t it?

Trying to get through this disaster.
Trying to get through this winter.
Trying to find answers to something unfathomable.

Here are some things that can help.

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“Try January” has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning, hasn’t it?

Trying to get through this disaster.
Trying to get through this winter.
Trying to find answers to something unfathomable.

Here are some things that can help.

Blessed are you stuck in the mud/quicksand. Doing the thing is hard, but it is oh so beautiful.

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Blessed are you stuck in the mud/quicksand. Doing the thing is hard, but it is oh so beautiful.

This is one of my last photos from Los Angeles. The images coming out of L.A. are truly terrifying. My heart aches for the communities that will need rebuilding, lives that have been shattered, the pieces that will need picking up.

It’s impossible not to feel helpless in a crisis like this.

But as my good friend @steve_leder said, “...in this moment, we all have the power to reach out to those we love. To keep reaching out. To keep checking in. And checking in. And checking in. That is how you can help right now.”

No words feel big enough for this kind of loss. Reach out. Even if you’re scared, don’t know what to say or are afraid of “doing it wrong.” Reach out.

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This is one of my last photos from Los Angeles. The images coming out of L.A. are truly terrifying. My heart aches for the communities that will need rebuilding, lives that have been shattered, the pieces that will need picking up.

It’s impossible not to feel helpless in a crisis like this.

But as my good friend @steve_leder said, “...in this moment, we all have the power to reach out to those we love. To keep reaching out. To keep checking in. And checking in. And checking in. That is how you can help right now.”

No words feel big enough for this kind of loss. Reach out. Even if you’re scared, don’t know what to say or are afraid of “doing it wrong.” Reach out.

My friend, Rev. Sam Wells, is an expert in walking alongside folks in inexplicable pain, grief, and loss. What happens when we don`t know what to say? How do we move forward when the plans we made, shatter?

This reflection is about what it means to face what scares us most. Naming the fear. Letting go of what was. Finding just enough courage, trust, and trembling faith to take the next step—even when it feels impossibly hard.

If you’re feeling unmoored (or just very human), I`d love to give you these words to keep close. Comment "STORM," and I`ll send them right over. 💌

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My friend, Rev. Sam Wells, is an expert in walking alongside folks in inexplicable pain, grief, and loss. What happens when we don't know what to say? How do we move forward when the plans we made, shatter?

This reflection is about what it means to face what scares us most. Naming the fear. Letting go of what was. Finding just enough courage, trust, and trembling faith to take the next step—even when it feels impossibly hard.

If you’re feeling unmoored (or just very human), I'd love to give you these words to keep close. Comment "STORM," and I'll send them right over. 💌

Dr. Richard Hays, great friend of my soul, died this last week.

We were diagnosed the same month with Stage IV cancer way back when. And then, somehow, we both lived.

Richard was one of the most important New Testament scholars of his generation. And he was also one of the most powerful preachers of hope.

This photo is one of my favorite memories where I went to see him preach the Easter service at dawn. In the gardens where we used to walk. And as we walked, we reviewed the basics: how we originally planned on living forever; how the promise of eternal life places hope ever before us; and how relieved we were to keep our splendid hair.

But the question was always, how do we live now? What Jesus has done in the past—loved us, saved us, given us a future—stands behind us and in front of us. We were saved and we will be saved. But today we are not young believers or resurrected bodies. We are in the lumpy middle or the floppy end.

Richard’s clear voice rang across the lawn. “By your resurrection, you raised the dead and brought us from death to life."

I knew it when I looked at him. He’s a resurrection preview. How quickly we believe that nothing can be new again but then, look. Hallelujah.

Richard, you always said: blessed is he who lives and dies in the name of the Lord. I believe you this time.

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Open

Dr. Richard Hays, great friend of my soul, died this last week.

We were diagnosed the same month with Stage IV cancer way back when. And then, somehow, we both lived.

Richard was one of the most important New Testament scholars of his generation. And he was also one of the most powerful preachers of hope.

This photo is one of my favorite memories where I went to see him preach the Easter service at dawn. In the gardens where we used to walk. And as we walked, we reviewed the basics: how we originally planned on living forever; how the promise of eternal life places hope ever before us; and how relieved we were to keep our splendid hair.

But the question was always, how do we live now? What Jesus has done in the past—loved us, saved us, given us a future—stands behind us and in front of us. We were saved and we will be saved. But today we are not young believers or resurrected bodies. We are in the lumpy middle or the floppy end.

Richard’s clear voice rang across the lawn. “By your resurrection, you raised the dead and brought us from death to life."

I knew it when I looked at him. He’s a resurrection preview. How quickly we believe that nothing can be new again but then, look. Hallelujah.

Richard, you always said: blessed is he who lives and dies in the name of the Lord. I believe you this time.

Happy January!! I thought I’d kick the month off with a little giveaway.

My friend, Oliver Burkeman, has a way of talking about life not in terms of the fantasy of where we’d like to be, but a life actually beginning once we get grounded in where we are. Right now.

I want to give one of you copies of his books:

✨ “Four Thousand Weeks”
✨ “Time Management for Mortals”

…not because I think you need an overhaul of all that is true about you, but because my hope this year is that you embrace all that is true about you.

To enter, simply like this post, make sure you’re following me and tag a friend. 💕

This giveaway ends Friday, January 10th at 12am EST and is open to the US and Canada only.

This contest is in no way sponsored by Instagram. Must be 18 or older to enter. Terms and conditions apply.

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Here`s to the quiet courage of trying.

May we all have the courage to try again, and again, and again.

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Here's to the quiet courage of trying.

May we all have the courage to try again, and again, and again.

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.

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Everything Happens.

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Sign up below to receive a weekly email from Kate Bowler every Wednesday.

Name

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Other emails we have available:

I’m interested in ministry / church resources sent monthly.

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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
  
  Oliver Burkeman
  New Year, Same Me
  Listen Now New Year, Same Me
  Kelly Corrigan
  Feeling Happy? Navigating the Highs and Lows with Kelly Corrigan
  Listen Now Feeling Happy? Navigating the Highs and Lows with Kelly Corrigan
  Kelly Corrigan
  Feeling Crappy? Navigating the Highs and Lows
  Listen Now Feeling Crappy? Navigating the Highs and Lows
  Safiya Sinclair
  Rewriting Roots
  Listen Now Rewriting Roots
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
  
  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
  
  Topics
  
  ILLNESS
  
  GRIEF
  
  WHAT NOT TO SAY
  
  RESILIENT FAITH
  
  INSPIRING LIVES
  
  NUANCED HOPE
  
  CARING AT HOME
  
  CARING AT WORK
  
  COMPLICATED FAMILIES
  
  MOVING FORWARD

Meet Kate

Get to Know Me

How to Connect

Everything Happens.

Books

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

Make your inbox a little more human.

Meet Kate

Get to Know Me

How to Connect

Everything Happens.

Books

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.