HIH Weekly Spotlights: Return to the Treadmill & Moments of Grace

Issue 22

It feels like we have been rewriting the same pilot script forever — because we have! As we near the end of our current phase of rewriting, we both have the feeling that we’ll have SO MUCH time for everything else once it’s done. But of course that’s not true. It never is.

Reminder: Our next Happier In Hollywood Slow Read is Anne Lamott’s iconic book about writing, Bird by Bird. We’ll start June 21 so get your copy of the book now!

Liz’s Spotlight: Treadmill Desk Time!

A long time ago, my sister gave me the best birthday present ever— a treadmill desk for my office. I embraced walking and working with my whole heart. Sarah got one too, and for years the two of us did everything in motion. We gave notes and got notes, brainstormed, outlined, revised… all while going one to three miles an hour. Executives were used to hearing our desks whir in the background of a call. Producers thought nothing of our heads bobbing up and down on Zoom. We even named one of the weekly segments of our Happier in Hollywood podcast “From The Treadmill Desks Of.” I’d get in 10,000 steps without even trying.

And then… and then. I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I just… stopped. Sarah is still walking away — she has a treadmill desk at home in her cloffice AND at her office in downtown Ojai. But I’ve taken to the couch, all day, five days a week. My butt actually hurts from sitting so much. Okay, now for the point. As of today, I am RECOMMITTING to my treadmill desk. I’m getting back on the walking train. The walking stick? If there’s something you’ve stopped doing that you want to recommit to, join me! Let’s do it together. And, yes, I will report back, because without accountability I’m apt to stay exactly in my current semi-prone position.

Sarah’s Spotlight: A Moment of Grace

Early Sunday morning, we had cul de sac drama. Three ambulances, a sheriff, police, all on our little street. An elderly woman with dementia had tried to get out of a moving car and her daughter veered onto our street to keep her safe.

My mom died of Alzheimer’s, so this struck close to home figuratively as well as literally. When my mom was dying, I kept expecting to find moments of grace amidst the pain— and to be honest, there were none. It was just hard.

But Sunday morning, one of my neighbors brought his walker to the elderly woman and sat with her and held her hand. Another neighbor brought books on caregiving to the daughter. And now I wonder— were there moments of grace that I missed because it was all so hard?

I did have a moment of grace this week with my daughter. I planted several strawberry plants this spring, and we had our first two beautifully ripe berries. Violet had had a hard day, so I brought the berries to her room, where she was snuggled in bed. She asked if I’d had one. When I said no, she smiled, and handed a berry back to me. So simple, so sweet.

Have you had any moments of grace lately?

Writing Tip of the Week: Beware Adverbs

Stephen King strikes abject terror in a lot of people— it’s kind of his thing— but particularly in adverb-loving writers who have read his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. King writes, “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.” In a script, excessive adverbs (which to King is pretty much any adverb), lead to overwrought dialogue. In prose, they’re just annoying. Consider your adverbs carefully.

Quote of the Week:

Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don’t drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor’s yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.

— Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

This Week on the Podcast:

We talk about why making a list of our priorities during a recent Hive ‘25 helped us make some important work decisions. In Take A Hike, we suggest embracing a slow start to your morning. Then, in The Craft (& Fain), we discuss the value of tinkering. This week’s Hollywood Hack is saving us money: how to unsubscribe on an iPhone. Finally, Sarah recommends the excellent book Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding, by Lian Dolan.