City of Belmont - Ruth Faulkner Public Library

Real artists have day jobs, (and other awesome things they don't teach you in school), Sara Benincasa

Real artists have day jobs

Sara Benincasa

(and other awesome things they don't teach you in school)

While the practical aspects of new adulthood can be nerve-wracking--dating, job-hunting, money-managing--the most important task of all is figuring out who you are and where you fit in the world. Author and comedian Sara Benincasa, now in her mid-thirties, had an absolutely harrowing early twenties and now, on the other side, she has a LOT of hard-earned wisdom and common sense to share

Introduction: there are 52 essays in this book but please read this part first -- Real artists have day jobs -- How to read a book -- Everything is intersectional -- It gets better, mostly -- Do it anyway -- Put your clutter in purgatory -- When you don't know what to do, ask a successful woman -- You can do magic -- Feel all the feelings -- There will be shit days -- Elect your own executive board -- Take care of your teeth -- Stop apologizing for everything -- Radical overconfidence -- Join the fancy club at the airport -- When you can't figure something out, put yourself in water -- Take the compliment -- Go fuck yourself (No, really! Masturbation is important) -- Wear a weird hat -- Listen -- The power of being a dork -- Everything's not alright (and that's alright) -- Life is too short for shitty friends -- Self-care for women in comedy -- Prioritize sleep -- Sleep naked -- Ask questions -- Surprise! You don't have to love your family -- Breathe -- Give it away now -- Abuse is fucking complicated -- Make art like a little kid -- Bridge the gaps in your pop cultural education -- When people tell you who they are, believe them -- Ask for exactly what you want -- Don't buy into the marriage myth -- Tell your partner what you like in bed -- Gratitude in underrated -- Write fan letters -- Acknowledge that having a kid doesn't make you an adult -- A vagina is not a time-machine -- Always say hello to older people, because they are invisible -- Identify a personal prejudice and educate it into nonexistence -- Let an animal adopt you -- Walk you way to a solution -- It's always tile to play -- Realize your dress size doesn't matter -- The darkness is where the good stuff starts -- Your normal is not everybody else's normal -- This too shall pass -- Always celebrate rainbows -- Look in the mirror and say "I love you."