“I kept calling it myPeoplemagazine moment,” St. Clair says of the time.
The book ruminates on commitment, partnership, and finding meaning in life’s devastations butupliftinglyso!
“For artists, this is a coping mechanism,” OBrien says.
Actor-writer couple Jessica St. Clair and Dan O’Brien.Jessica St. Clair; Dan O’Brien
“Creating art and seeking out patterns is a way to feel control over the chaos.”
I would watch maybe 15 minutes a night, and it was my little treat.
The moment that theme song plays, Dan instantly falls asleep.
Brené Brown’s ‘Rising Strong’.Penguin RandomHouse
It’s like old literature in that way, but I like the idea of escaping.
I daydream about selling everything and living in the countryside."
Brene Brown
St. Clair:“During the Big C, I became obsessed with audiobooks.
‘The Property Brothers’ hosts Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott.Celebrity I.O.U.
Also, Amy Poehler’s audiobook ofYes c’mon.”
Radio Dramas
O’Brien:“I also went back in time[laughs].
During Jessica’s treatment I became obsessed with radio dramas.
Susan Sontag’s ‘Illness as Metaphor’ and ‘AIDS and Its Metaphors’.Macmillan
I was going back to the ’30s.
Like, shows with the organ music where people were having melodramatic affairs or solving murders.
I’m talking bad movies.
I was combing through Youtube to find movies nobody has the rights to anymore.
But I think I liked that it took me to a place so far back it felt safe…?
These movies are so traditional the woman was always a Scarsdale housewife.”
O’Brien:“It makes me think about the way styles and norms change.
What willPlaying Houselook like to people 100 years from now?
How bizarre will it be?”
It’s kind of a mix ofMurder, She WroteandLaw & Order.
Each week they solve another mystery, and it takes place in this idyllic, fictional county in England.
There’s satisfaction in the control of the mystery being solved.
It seems scary, but it’s not really because it’s all tied up at the end."
That is what I want."
The only thing that calmed him wasThe Property Brothers.
But I’m like, ‘What can we learn from these people who went through this?'"
It’s calledIllness as Metaphor.
It seems like it would be too sad, but it is hopeful.
There are five or so things that contribute to somebody emerging better from something terrible.
And that we should grab any chance at joy. "
