If you want to write a book, sooner or later, you’re just gonna have to sit the hell down and write…and keep writing even when the laundry gets really fascinating. -Patti Digh
Want to write your own book? Check out IN THE ROUGH: my two-year intensive for creators who want to develop their own book-length project.
Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally (Globe Pequot Press, 2008)
One of five finalists for the prestigious “Books for a Better Life Award” and nominated as Book of the Year by the Southern Independent Booksellers Association, 2008.
In October 2003, Patti Digh’s stepfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died 37 days later. The timeframe made an impression on her. What emerged was a commitment to ask herself every morning: What would I be doing today if I had only 37 days left to live? The answers changed her life and led to this new kind of book. Part meditation, part how-to guide, part memoir, Life is a Verb is all heart. “This is the book we need.” -poet Naomi Shihab Nye
All of the art in Life is a Verb is by readers of Patti’s blog, 37days.
“Damn girl, you write good.” -Lee Hancock, Dallas Morning News
When Life is a Verb was published, readers from around the U.S. celebrated with Patti, inviting her to their towns to read, share stories, and sign books. In all, Patti traveled to 42 cities on this “unofficial” book tour, hosted by readers. To her surprise and delight, Life is a Verb was also adopted as a textbook for several school districts across the country.
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Listen to Patti read at the Georgia Center for the Book:
“Write to Remember”:
“Say Hi to Yaron”:
The audiobook of Life is a Verb, read by the author, is available here.
Creative is a Verb: If You’re Alive, You’re Creative (Globe Pequot Press, 2010)
Nominated as Book of the Year by the Southern Independent Booksellers Association, 2010.
Yearning to reclaim a creative spirit in your fantastic, unique life?… To live your whole life as art, not just the bits you draw on a canvas or embroider or sing? Join Patti Digh in a new kind of book that leads you by both heart and head to acknowledge, reinforce, and use your own creative spirit by teaching six creative commitments—Put Down Your Clever, Turn Around and Look, Show Up Like Magic, Please Lick the Art, Stop Trying So Hard, and Ignore All the Critics. Whether you’re apt to say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body and really wish I were more creative,” “I’m just a dabbler but would love to be a real artist or craftsperson,” or “I’m an artist and would love to be known and respected,” Creative Is a Verb is for you.
All of the art in Creative is a Verb is by readers of Patti’s blog, 37days.
What I Wish For You: Simple Wisdom for a Happy Life (Globe Pequot Press, 2011)
What advice do you wish you had heard—really heard—when you were graduating from high school or college? What words could you benefit from hearing again? When Patti Digh asked her readers this question as her own daughter was starting college, what flowed in was beautiful, thoughtful, poignant, and funny.
All of the art in What I Wish For You is by readers of Patti’s blog, 37days.
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Other videos from this book can be found here.
Four Word Self Help (Globe Pequot Press, 2013)
The Geography of Loss: Embrace What Is, Honor What Was, Love What Will Be (Globe Pequot Press, 2014)
This extraordinary book is borne of loss: the loss of love, of certainty and assuredness, of knowing where we are or who we are, of beauty and youth, of health, of life itself, of privacy, and of roles and of knowing.
When someone or something we love leaves us, we suddenly walk alone into new territory without them. We become strangers in new lands, places where the landscape is unalterably changed, where the center of gravity has somehow faltered and become weak, making us feel as if we might fall off the surface of the earth. Sometimes, that moment of loss defines the rest of our lives, becoming a center to our compass forever. This unique book is a guidebook, an atlas of those experiences of loss and grief, a map for living through and into change and impermanence, to moving on anew. You are the navigator through the three main sections:
Embrace what is: walk into your new landscape
Honor what was: be grateful for your old landscape
Love what will be: live into your future landscape
“So powerful that I can only read a little at a time. Your book is touching my heart in a way that needs and deserves to be touched.” -Kathleen Ambrose Warner
Illustrated throughout with art submitted from around the world, this book is an atlas of experience, utilizing map imagery and the richly metaphoric, evocative, and functional language of geography to help you place yourself on your own journey, to find your way through helpful exercises and an empathetic, expert guide.
All of the art in The Geography of Loss is by readers of Patti’s blog, 37days.
Here’s NPR’s story about one woman’s use of The Geography of Loss in her own grieving process.
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Your Daily Rock: A Daybook of Touchstones for Busy Lives, with Kim deBroin Mailhot (Globe Pequot Press, 2014)
Following in the tradition of her bestselling Life Is a Verb—a guide to living life more consciously—Patti Digh returns with this deceptively simple gathering of touchstones, Your Daily Rock. With her signature gift of presenting truths in concise heartspeak, she provides short meditations to ground each day in more mindful and intentional living. The three hundred and sixty-six reflections (one for each date, including February 29th), lead readers to open space in their lives in order to love well, live fully, let go deeply, and make a difference.
Illustrated by Kim deBroin Mailhot, aka the “Rock Fairy.”
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Global Literacies: Lessons on Business Leadership and National Cultures (Simon & Schuster, 2000)
Chosen as a Fortune Magazine “Best Business Book” in 2000
Based on interviews with 78 corporate CEOs in 30 countries, from companies like Coca-Cola, Motorola, Acer, and others, this book outlines the competencies needed to lead in a global world: Personal Literacy, Social Literacy, Business Literacy, and Cultural Literacy.
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The Global Diversity Desk Reference, with Gardenswartz, Rowe, and Bennett (John Wiley, 2003)
Written by a team of experts in the field of workplace diversity, The Global Diversity Desk Reference offers a strategic approach for international organizations that want to succeed in the worldwide marketplace by maximizing the potential of all their employees. You’ll discover how to increase effectiveness in managing diversity at three levels–the individual, interpersonal, and organizational. You’ll also get the practical tools, concrete suggestions, and pragmatic methods you need to successfully manage a global workforce and create and align organizational systems, policies, and practices with the requirements of an international workforce.
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Wisdom Of Our Fathers
Out of 60,000 entries, Patti’s essay about her father was one of 129 chosen to appear in Tim Russert’s last book, Wisdom of Our Fathers. Her essay, “The Salute,” can be found on page 192.
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Selected Articles
“No, You Are Not Just An Hysterical Female, and This Is Not Just Anxiety,” HuffPost (Jan 29, 2016).
“When You Break Open, It Happens By Surprise,” HuffPost (Feb 25, 2016).
“What I Learn On The Orange Couch: Creating Boundaries For The First Time,” HuffPost (Feb 19, 2016).
“The Challenge To Be Mortal: Transform Terror Into Commitment, and Entitlement into Hope,” HuffPost (Feb 25, 2016).
“What I learned About Prince From Tuning My Piano,” HuffPost (April 22, 2016).
“Speak Me A River: Resurrecting the Lost Art of Conversation,” HuffPost (Apr 16, 2016)
“The Widow(er) Maker,” HuffPost (Apr 4, 2016).
“I Will Not Be Quiet. I Will Not Be Tolerant of Your Intolerance,” HuffPost (Mar 29, 2016).
“How to Do Anything in 12 Steps,” HuffPost (Mar 28, 2016).
“This Looks Really Hard. Is There Anything I Can Do To Help You?” HuffPost (Mar 24, 2016).
“I Am Waiting For Someone I Love To Die,” HuffPost (Mar 7, 2016).
“Change Your Verbs, Change Your Life,” HuffPost (Mar 4, 2016).
“Are You Ready for Thanksgiving Dinner Talk?” HuffPost (Nov 20, 2016).
“What Unmet Needs Were Expressed in This Election?” HuffPost (Nov 10, 2016).
“Walking Into This New Day,” HuffPost (Nov 9, 2016).
“Let the Healing Begin,” HuffPost (Nov 8, 2016).
“Why Affinity Groups Matter,” Association Management Vol 49, no. 8 (Aug 1997), 80.
“One Style Doesn’t Fit All,” HR Magazine Vol 47 (Nov 2002): 79–83.
“Getting People in the Pool: Diversity Recruitment Ideas That Work,” HR Magazine Vol 44, No. 10 (1999): 94-98.
“The Next Challenge: Holding People Accountable,” HR Magazine (Oct 1998).