Lori Deschene of Tiny Buddha is an amazing blogger. Know why? She cares about her readers more than she cares about her personal agenda. The way she responds to you makes you feel like your a member of her personal mastermind group.
Check out what she has on her blog.
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours.
It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and
your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine.
Click here to read more.
Lori values who you are as a person! Want to get growing? Take a lesson or two from one of the wisest bloggers online. Enjoy our interview!
1. When did you fall in love with quotes and where?
I’ve loved quotes pretty much since I learned to read—which I always do with a pen or a highlighter. What I love about them is that even though it’s all been said, it’s not always been the same way. Some of my favorite quotes express similar ideas, but they come from different perspectives.
Also, I find it comforting to realize that wisdom transcends the boundaries of time and culture. Despite all our differences as people, and in spite of all our progress, we’ve always pondered the same big questions—and at the heart of most of our spiritual and philosophical systems, we generally find similar answers.
2. For our readers who don’t know you can you tell me how you got started and what’s it all about?
Sure! I run a website called tinybuddha.com, which I started in September of 2009. One thing that makes Tiny Buddha a little unique is that it all started with a quote-a-day Twitter account. It was a little over a year old when I launched the site. At that point, more than 50,000 people were following.
I realized then that quotes are everywhere on Twitter—people retweet them all the time—and I wondered how well we all apply those ideas when we disconnect from our gadgets. Do we just read them, share them, and move on without internalizing and taking action?
My goal for the site was to create a community blog where anyone, of any age, from any location could share a story about taking that wisdom off the page. I’d been running the Twitter account anonymously, and at first I thought I’d run the site that way, too.
I feared that if I put my name on there, it would seem like my blog—people would think of Tiny Buddha as synonymous with me. I wanted the message to be that there is a “Tiny Buddha” in all of us. Eventually I realized that I needed to start writing authentically and vulnerably if I wanted to create a community where other people felt motivated to do the same.
That change made all the difference. Over the past two years, more than 125 writers have shared their struggles and stories. Readers often say that the posts address exactly what they’re going through at any time, and I think there’s a simple for reason for that: We all deal with the same things over and over again in life. When we’re willing to be honest about our real feelings and experiences, suddenly we all feel less alone.
3. How did you choose the name Tiny Buddha?
I can’t take full credit for that. A friend came up with the name. At the time, it made sense because it started on Twitter, where everything is tiny! It was really a metaphor for small pieces of wisdom.
4. Tell us about your new book? When can we purchase it?
My new book is titled Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Life’s Hardest Questions, and though January 1, 2012 is the official launch date, it’s available now for pre-order on Amazon.com.
I’m really excited about how this book came together, because it also started on Twitter. A year and a half back, I began asking a number of difficult questions on the @tinybuddha Twitter page—like “What’s the meaning of life?” and “What does it take to be happy?”
I collected nearly 1,000 responses. In the end, I chose just under 200 tweets to weave throughout the book, which also features insights from wise teachers throughout time and a number of stories from my life. The end result is a guide of possibilities for happiness, mindfulness, connection, and empowerment—even in a world with so much uncertainty.
5. Your posts carry a lot of wisdom and insight, how did you get so wise?
Sometimes I don’t feel wise at all, because there is so much I don’t know! But according to Socrates, realizing that is the foundation of all wisdom.
Most of my writing comes as a direct result of pain. In my younger years, I caused myself a lot of it. For a long time, I carried around numerous victim stories to justify my negativity and misery. After years of suffering, I realized I truly was the cause—no one and nothing else made my life hard.
I was the one thinking undermining thoughts. I was the one drowning in overpowering emotions. I was the one dwelling on the past. I was the one obsessing about the future. I was the one who moved around all the time, hoping to escape myself. And no wonder—if I had a friend who treated me like I treated myself, I’d run fast and far from her, too.
I write the things I tell myself. That’s not to say I always apply these ideas perfectly. I’m by no means an expert or a guru, and sometimes I need to put a lot of effort into my happiness and self-care. I think that’s part of what makes Tiny Buddha appealing. It’s not a place where any one person has it all figured out. It’s a place where we’re all human, and we’re all both teachers and students.
There’s a quote that reads, “We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.” I have learned this is true. The greatest wisdom comes from knowing that we are never alone.
6. What book have you read that has had the most impact on your life?
The book that had the strongest impact on me was The Power of Now. I truly believe mindfulness is the path to freedom.
7. Books you’re currently reading?
I just finished Cultivating Radiance by Tamara Gerlach, and I’ve been playing around with The Game of You—an amazingly insightful book and card game set that I highly recommend!
8. If you could give a message to the world in 60 seconds what would it be?
If I could convey just one message, I would likely say nothing. Instead, I’d take a long hard look in the mirror, and sing “And no message could have been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.”
Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. A native of Massachusetts, Lori now lives in Los Angeles where she writes from assorted coffee shops and parks. To join the Tiny Buddha community, subscribe for daily or weekly emails, join more than 220,000 @tinybuddha followers on Twitter, or “like” the Tiny Buddha Facebook page.
Hi Tess and Lori,
Your story sounds like mine and so many others. I didn’t start my blog because I was perfect and that I don’t have any problems but rather as a way of expressing myself through my own experiences.
I have been to your blog many times and I will have to check it out again after this comment.