Tiny beatiful things
Cheryl Strayed
Cheryl Strayed
Carrie's job, in a slightly less glamorous way, was the job of those pages in the magazines we read as teenagers, where they gave love advice to people who sent in anonymous letters. I always wondered who sent those letters and who was behind the answers.
This happened to Cheryl Strayed, the woman behind the pseudonym Dear Sugar, through which she became America's most popular love counselor thanks to her column in The Rumpus. And unlike what we could read in SuperPop, this author’s responses were real, close, pure (sometimes a little cheesy), funny… just like the stories of the thousands of anonymous people who wrote to her every day. From people burned out from their jobs to women who had suffered multiple abortions, they wrote to Dear Sugar about matters they probably hadn’t even told their closest loved ones. The connection with her was real.
Her column went viral so much that they published this book: Tiny Beautiful Things, collecting the best of Dear Sugar. It's a tender, positive, and real read. You don’t know Megan from Texas or John from Colorado, but you connect with them in a human way. Cheryl Strayed’s insight in responding to all the letters, making you empathize with the pain of each one, is astounding. Giving advice (about anything) seems daring to me, but she does it from a very humble perspective, with the sole goal of showing that in the process of helping others, we also help ourselves.
You can continue reading Cheryl in her monthly Substack newsletter, Dear Sugar, or listen to her podcast with Steve Almond, Dear Sugars. I also recommend the Disney+ series that tells the story of herself and her column, Tiny Beautiful Things.
Note
“Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you'll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you'll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room.”