4 Myths of Grief, 6 Questions about Covid, 3 Things to Do If You Start Something New

Highlights From Our January (Plus Our Favorite Readers Comments)

Welcome to Best of the Month, our wrap-up of all our most popular posts and favorite comments from readers like you. We love hearing your feedback—here on Bulletin, or on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Your feedback helps us learn what you like and build community.

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January was one of our biggest months ever—with more than 100,000 views of posts on The Nonlinear Life. We experimented with some new types of articles and feel grateful that so many existing readers enjoyed them and so many new subscribers joined our community. Reminder, this effort works only if you subscribe—and it works even better when you comment, like, and share.

Here are some of our favorite pieces and comments from the past four weeks:

1. I Thought I Was Prepared For Grief. Then I Lost My Dad.

As many of you know, I lost my father last year after a long struggle with Parkinson's. On what would have been his 87th birthday, I shared what I've learned about grief and what myths I struggled to get over. [To read the original post, click on the headline or the photo above.] The response was overwhelming. Thank you all for your kind comments on Bulletin and elsewhere:

Thank you for this. I recently lost my dad on Dec 17. It made celebrating Christmas especially difficult for me. And the process of his dying brought back all the feelings From losing my mom the 5 years prior. I describe grieving as one of those twisting turning roller coasters. Sometimes you move forward and other times completely upside down. It was good to read that my experience of loss is not singular. - Diana Bruttell Fitzgerald

You put into words, the feelings and grief and loss that I have experienced since my father passed away in 2016 and also with my mother who passed in 2020. Thank you. - Morgan YellowThunder

1. COVID and Kids: 6 Questions For a Top Pediatrician

One of the biggest stories of the month was the return of early pandemic vibes with the Omicron variant. I was grateful that two experts in my own circle of friends and family agreed to share their expertise—and their comments were personal, heartfelt, and full of professional insights. One was was my sister-in-law, Dr. Elissa Rottenberg, who shared her experience as a pediatrician in Newton, Mass. As many of you shared, parenting is hard, but pandemic parenting is even harder.

This was so insightful! Sent this to a couple of my friends with kids—here's to hoping case numbers go down and all schools can safely teach students in person soon! - Lauren Bittrich

Great article! One of the smallest silver linings of the pandemic has been how great masks are for running in the midwest winter. - Ryan Huettel

1. 3 Things to Do When You Start Something New (and One Thing Not to Do)

January is always the month of resolutions and promises we hope to fulfill throughout the year. Yet we always make the same mistake. I shared some surprising research about how to make your resolutions easier to stick with, and enjoyed hearing your feedback:

Ah, what any author knows well: "It’s terrible, it’s wonderful. I’m ashamed of it, isn’t it great?" - Mitch Albom

This is such an inspirational uplifting read, Bruce! As always, love your writing. - Teresa Martin Klaiber

1. What Michelangelo’s 'David' Can Teach Us About Life Transitions

I was lucky to spend a week in Italy in December with my family right before Omicron surged. One of the treats: Learning what Michelangelo knew about life transitions and carved into his iconic David. Loved your response!

I really enjoyed that article! - Debbie Marx Satisky Handelman

This was a great read. Thanks! - Tammy James

We have lots more planned for 2022, including an upcoming feature on good news stories we all should be paying more attention to. Until then, stay safe, thanks for reading, and may find a little beauty and togetherness in this challenging time.

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Thanks for reading The Nonlinear Life. Please help us grow the community by subscribing, sharing, and commenting below. Also, you can learn more about me, read my introductory post, or scroll through my other posts.

Or these books: Life Is in the Transitions, The Secrets of Happy Families, Council of Dads.

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