Hail the Abnormal: Normal Gets You Nowhere

So I was able to get my hands on Kelly Cutrone‘s second book, Normal Gets You Nowhere, and I devoured it just as I did with her first book. NGYN is like a movie sequel that you can watch on its own, but will be a bit confused about if you haven’t seen the first and have some context on Cutrone’s life.

Like the first book, this one isn’t in chronological order. It’s actually even more like a self-help book with each chapter on a different topic. The flow caught me off guard, but I still loved Cutrone’s brutally honest writing style. Here is a review of the topics discussed and what resonated with me:

1 – Comfortably Numb: A rant on how we’re programmed not to think on our own. We’re constantly bombarded by news, and influenced by companies on how to act. This is the normality she speaks of, and sets the tone for the rest of the book on why and how we need to start thinking and acting like individuals with opinions.

2 – The Kella-Sutra: If You’re Not Getting Fucked by Midnight, Go Home: Can you beat this chapter title? Cutrone believes women should be experts in sex before they get married – even if you are single. And how to take control of your sex life instead of playing games.

3 – Holy Daze (Holla, Days Off!): On the nonsense of statutory holidays and what comes with it – turkey murdering, candy eating, and shopping sales. A short chapter on why we should all have our own holidays and put the stupid ones out of business.

4 – Awakening Universal Motherhood: My Three-Way with Wonder Woman, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Amma: This chapter was a short story all on its own. A wonderful story on how Cutrone made her way to the Eleanor Roosevelt Center and learned that Roosevelt was one of the founders of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (what a document! How come we didn’t learn about this in school?). Then she flew to Toronto for a retreat with spiritual leader Amma and experienced another spiritual awakening. This chapter contained my favourite quote of the book:

“The feminine needs to represent itself accurately, integrally, and completely. Because the quicker we get into owning our innate powers of ruthlessness, fierceness, compassion, and sweetness, being truly honest and equal, speaking up for ourselves, and doing good for the world (and having great sex!), the faster the planet will heal, and the faster we’ll all be able to get the hell out of here!”

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Awakening the Goddess – Book + Event Reviews

For a review of the Conscious Divas’s Diva Date Night, scroll below to “Continue reading”.

1) Kelly Cutrone – If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You

I’ve been dying to read Kelly Cutrone’s first book since I watched her hit show Kell On Earth, which I was tipped on by a fellow fashion publicist. Since then, Cutrone has gone on to write her second book, Normal Gets You Nowhere, and be a correspondent on the Dr. Phil Show.

I typically don’t review books, but I was blown away by this one because it was so not what I expected. Kelly Cutrone is one of the world’s most famous New York fashion publicists, but also a tell-it-like-it-is personality that many would simply refer to as a “bitch.” Though I knew that this wasn’t going to be a book about how to become a publicist, the reviews I read on it mentioned this aspect quite a bit. On the contrary, I describe If You Have to Cry, Go Outside as part memoir, spiritual self-help guide, and branding book.

Cutrone describes her life, from making appearances on local TV as a young kid, to climbing the ranks in LA & New York jobs weaving celebs like Michael Jackson through crowds, to her position now as CEO of international PR firm People’s Revolution. However, the journey is not told chronologically but when the lesson is most needed. I loved this about the book. There is so much I could say about her personal and career journey that is so wild, but you can read all about it – after Cutrone’s early years in New York (her dream city), she moved to the hippie streets of Venice Beach in LA, discovering herself again after getting off drugs. Learning about the many religions out there and learning from the teachings of her guru, “The Mother,” she created her own religion, and this is what she encourages each woman to do in life in order to be able to identify their life purpose and work toward it (very similar to former New York publicist Gabrielle Bernstein’s lessons in Spirit Junkie). This statement really spoke to me and I read it about five times over:

“My religion is about manifesting the Divine in myself and in everything I do. For me, the Goddess embodies compassion, perception, ruthlessness, and a total commitment to the destruction of falsity and ignorance; I aspire to embody and be all these things.”

The other part of Cutrone’s book is about self-branding – it’s funny because I had just finished reading Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It!: Why Now is the Time to Cash in On Your Passion and Cutrone echoed this about needing to find out who we are and embodying and expressing it in the best way possible – through our personalities, demeanors at work, how we dress, and how we treat people. Cutrone swears by using the phone as much as possible to keep the human connection going in this age of text, email and social media. Yes, branding is how companies appear to the public, but since companies are run by people, it’s ultimately people who do business. In the book you will find tips on do’s and don’ts on working in fashion and interning for her company, People’s Revolution.

I would recommend this book to any girl or woman 14 and above (bearing in mind there are tales of sexuality and swearing), because even though you may not relate to her in the least bit (I definitely could identify as a publicist and someone striving to find wholeness), you will appreciate where she came from, what she learned in her hard life experiences, and maybe even be amazed – as I was – that this hard, punk-like fashion publicist actually has a HUGE heart and soul and strives for awakening for all women. What I feel was the thesis of the book:

“My journey has been about forming an “X” on the spot where the heights of glorious superficiality meet the depths of spirituality.”

I know this isn’t exactly a new book, but I feel that women in 2012 could use a different “Goddess” to inspire us this year. I would highly recommend this book and Spirit Junkie to help you (a woman) on your path if you feel that calling. I look forward to getting my hands on Normal Gets You Nowhere and will blog on that if I have things to say about it. Oh, and I’ve discovered the holy grail of e-book resources: BCLibraries.ca – all the e-books you can borrow!

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Good books: Kind Diet & Art of Non-Conformity

I’ve never done a book review, and rightly so because I have so little time to read that when I do it’s gotta be a book that I REALLY wanted to read. So I thought I’d share two of my most recent reads that are also both feel-good books.

1) Chris Guillebeau‘s The Art of Non-Conformity

Chris Guillebeau is one of my heroes. He’s a writer that spent four years doing volunteer medical work in Africa, wrote e-books on how to travel the world on air miles and make a living blogging, and someone who will never have to apply for a job again. But while reading his e-books have led me to tuck them away into a “read” folder on my computer, his new book The Art of Non-Conformity is one that can inspire any average person to follow his footsteps to living an extraordinary life, on their own terms.

I must admit, one way to kick me in the ass to buy it was the fact that he came to Vancouver on his book tour. But, I was able to get it signed and take a picture with him, and when he asked me about myself, I proudly told him that I was in my fourth year running my business, knew I was destined for something bigger, and that his book would probably help me to figure out what that was.

I’m still figuring out what THAT is, but in the meantime his book gave me food for thought not only on how to dream BIG but how to ground things into reality. Some of the gems included are:

- Finding the path to doing what you love.

- Getting out of your comfort zone and facing the fear of change.

- Good vs. bad businesses; needing to escape to something, if you take the leap to quit your job.

- Saying no for your own good.

- Leaving a legacy.

If you’re able to have a glimpse at the chapters, it gives you a better idea of the sections of the book. Even if you’re not planning world domination anytime soon, it’s an inspiring read that will hopefully lead you to discover more of what you want to get out of your life.

Me with Chris Guillebeau at Chapters Robson

2) Alicia Silverstone‘s The Kind Diet (www.thekindlife.com)

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