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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
  So Much Love, So Much to Lose
  Listen Now So Much Love, So Much to Lose
  Miriam Toews
  Naming the Silences
  Listen Now Naming the Silences
  Learning to Be Joyful, Anyway: A Big Announcement
  Listen Now Learning to Be Joyful, Anyway: A Big Announcement
  Ellen Vora
  For Those Who Feel It All
  Listen Now For Those Who Feel It All
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

Feeling like I don’t belong

I have felt this way all of my life ….always on the outside looking in . It’s hard and sad and heartbreaking

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

Be the snack you wish to see in the world.

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Be the snack you wish to see in the world.

🚨 NEW IN THE SHOP 🚨
It’s not technically a cure for being human... but it is coffee. So, close.

I`ve partnered with my favorite local roaster, @joevangogh, to brew up a special blend with tasting notes of vanilla and resilience. (Yes, really.)

Also? We made new mugs. Because no one should have to face their life’s calling—or inbox—without something sturdy to hold onto.

Comment "CURE" and I`ll send you a link to order.

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Open post by katecbowler with ID 18082965392074668

🚨 NEW IN THE SHOP 🚨
It’s not technically a cure for being human... but it is coffee. So, close.I've partnered with my favorite local roaster, @joevangogh, to brew up a special blend with tasting notes of vanilla and resilience. (Yes, really.)Also? We made new mugs. Because no one should have to face their life’s calling—or inbox—without something sturdy to hold onto.Comment "CURE" and I'll send you a link to order.

This month’s roundup is brought to you by the chaos of October: documentaries that will wreck your soul (in a good way?), deflated disco balls, and a few survival tips for navigating the ninth circle of hell, also known as your middle-schooler’s group Halloween costume.

So grab a cup of something caffeinated or comforting—or both, if it’s one of those weeks—and dig in.

Comment "DISCO" and I`ll send over a link to read.

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Open post by katecbowler with ID 17848054566590185

This month’s roundup is brought to you by the chaos of October: documentaries that will wreck your soul (in a good way?), deflated disco balls, and a few survival tips for navigating the ninth circle of hell, also known as your middle-schooler’s group Halloween costume.So grab a cup of something caffeinated or comforting—or both, if it’s one of those weeks—and dig in.Comment "DISCO" and I'll send over a link to read.

When you can’t brush your own hair. Or stand up by yourself. Or feed yourself lunch.

That’s when love becomes unbearably specific.

This week on @EverythingHappens, I talk with the wise and hilarious @catherinewman about what she’s learned from volunteering in hospice, parenting grown children, and how her gorgeous new novel Wreck (out today!) illuminates the impossible and the ordinary.

It’s a conversation about the kindness we extend when we can’t fix anything. About the way love shows up in whispers and warm washcloths. And how the smallest mercies can feel enormous when we can’t do them for ourselves.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or comment ``WRECK" and I`ll send you a link to watch our full conversation. 📺

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When you can’t brush your own hair. Or stand up by yourself. Or feed yourself lunch.That’s when love becomes unbearably specific.This week on @EverythingHappens, I talk with the wise and hilarious @catherinewman about what she’s learned from volunteering in hospice, parenting grown children, and how her gorgeous new novel Wreck (out today!) illuminates the impossible and the ordinary.It’s a conversation about the kindness we extend when we can’t fix anything. About the way love shows up in whispers and warm washcloths. And how the smallest mercies can feel enormous when we can’t do them for ourselves.Listen wherever you get your podcasts or comment ''WRECK" and I'll send you a link to watch our full conversation. 📺

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’re shouting out, Amanda Doyle (@amandafdoyle), who reminds us in her episode (When Fixing Isn’t Loving) that dense breast tissue is common and tricky—and deserves follow-up.

You got your mammo? Great.
But if you`re in the “congratulations, you’re dense” club (like nearly half of us are!), you might also need an ultrasound or MRI. It’s not extra. It’s necessary.

Amanda’s moment of fierce self-advocacy is your reminder: You are not being too much. You are being wise. Brave. Slightly annoying to your doctor, perhaps—but alive.

✨ So schedule the scan.
✨ Ask the follow-up question.
✨ Say “dense” like it’s a superpower.

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This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’re shouting out, Amanda Doyle (@amandafdoyle), who reminds us in her episode (When Fixing Isn’t Loving) that dense breast tissue is common and tricky—and deserves follow-up.You got your mammo? Great.
But if you're in the “congratulations, you’re dense” club (like nearly half of us are!), you might also need an ultrasound or MRI. It’s not extra. It’s necessary.Amanda’s moment of fierce self-advocacy is your reminder: You are not being too much. You are being wise. Brave. Slightly annoying to your doctor, perhaps—but alive.✨ So schedule the scan.
✨ Ask the follow-up question.
✨ Say “dense” like it’s a superpower.

It means so much to stay. With the pain, the sorrow, the confusion—all of it.
Bless you who keep showing up, especially in a world where Everything Happens.

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It means so much to stay. With the pain, the sorrow, the confusion—all of it.
Bless you who keep showing up, especially in a world where Everything Happens.

Not ‘I can’t imagine what you’re going through,’ but I want to try—because you shouldn’t have to feel this alone.

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Not ‘I can’t imagine what you’re going through,’ but I want to try—because you shouldn’t have to feel this alone.

Not only did the wonderful folks at the @gambrellfdn show us Helsinki (where joy is apparently a civic duty), but we wrapped things up in Copenhagen—the land of Hans Christian Andersen, hygge, and a 100-year-old theme park where you can, I don’t know, process your feelings on a very slow-moving Ferris wheel?

If there’s a city that knows how to embrace a soft sweater, a slow morning, and the tender work of healing your inner child with pastries and public art… it’s CPH.

And of course, a recipe for happiness in any city, Copenhagen edition.

1. If the city has a theme park, go.
2. Especially when the carousel looks to pretty to be real.
3-4. Especially if it looks like a Wes Anderson set.
5. Practice HYGGE: the Danish art of being cozy, content, and vaguely candle-scented. Yes, there’s a book. No, I didn’t finish it.
6. Pause for wonder. The architecture! The bikes! So many bikes. It’s like living inside a very stylish Instagram reel.
7. Drink wine on a boat. (Because you always get on the boat. Especially if there’s wine. This is a rule now.)
8. Wear blazers to assimilate. Denmark is a country that thrives on blazers. Take me, I`m yours.
9. Kierkegaard`s grave is the closest thing I will have to a pilgrimage. (If your hero`s grave exists in the city you also happen to be in...GO.)

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Open post by katecbowler with ID 18288383698272300

Not only did the wonderful folks at the @gambrellfdn show us Helsinki (where joy is apparently a civic duty), but we wrapped things up in Copenhagen—the land of Hans Christian Andersen, hygge, and a 100-year-old theme park where you can, I don’t know, process your feelings on a very slow-moving Ferris wheel?If there’s a city that knows how to embrace a soft sweater, a slow morning, and the tender work of healing your inner child with pastries and public art… it’s CPH.And of course, a recipe for happiness in any city, Copenhagen edition.1. If the city has a theme park, go.
2. Especially when the carousel looks to pretty to be real.
3-4. Especially if it looks like a Wes Anderson set.
5. Practice HYGGE: the Danish art of being cozy, content, and vaguely candle-scented. Yes, there’s a book. No, I didn’t finish it.
6. Pause for wonder. The architecture! The bikes! So many bikes. It’s like living inside a very stylish Instagram reel.
7. Drink wine on a boat. (Because you always get on the boat. Especially if there’s wine. This is a rule now.)
8. Wear blazers to assimilate. Denmark is a country that thrives on blazers. Take me, I'm yours.
9. Kierkegaard's grave is the closest thing I will have to a pilgrimage. (If your hero's grave exists in the city you also happen to be in...GO.)

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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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
  So Much Love, So Much to Lose
  Listen Now So Much Love, So Much to Lose
  Miriam Toews
  Naming the Silences
  Listen Now Naming the Silences
  Learning to Be Joyful, Anyway: A Big Announcement
  Listen Now Learning to Be Joyful, Anyway: A Big Announcement
  Ellen Vora
  For Those Who Feel It All
  Listen Now For Those Who Feel It All
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