Lisa Jakub: Keynote Speaker | Author | Mental Wellness Expert

View Original

The Post-Huff Po post post

Life got a little strange last week. I received an email from a reader informing me that the Huffington Post wrote this. I'm grateful for the Huff Po piece because it connected me to all of you new readers. You have told me your stories and said unbelievably nice things and seem like a thoroughly lovely bunch people. I'm happy to know you.

But, it seemed ridiculous to me that they titled it "Lisa Jakub's Post-'Mrs. Doubtfire' Life: Former Child Star Blogs To Inform Us Of Her Whereabouts"

They made it sound like I was playing Hide-and-seek for the past 12 years. Like I've been crouching in the hall closet under a pile of shoes and I just jumped out and yelled "I WIN!"

I don't really think you have been sitting around wondering where I am and what I've been doing with myself. That is not the impetus of my writing. So, that brings me to an important question: what is my intent?

I'm a writer and I have to write. It's a compulsion. I want to write about all kinds of things. I want to write about how I love Mara and about how movie money works. But I also want to write about how it's okay to change your mind. It's okay to choose a life that is not what everyone else expected of you. It's okay to decide that being happy is worth more than money or a law degree or marrying your high school sweetheart just because they were nice enough.

Me "revealing" my early life in film was only done by way of introduction. That is part of who I am and I need to be honest about myself if I'm going to tell you a good story about anything. You'd never believe me, otherwise.

But that is not a very riveting headline, I suppose, so they make it sound like I am graciously giving you the answer to a riddle that's been keeping you up nights.

Some of the Huffington Post comments were mean - mostly of the "I don't care about her" variety - but the vast majority were kind and supportive and I'm thankful for that. I must admit that the mean ones did make me laugh. They made me want to go to a website about fishing and click on the article, read it, log in and tell them they should stop writing it because I don't happen to care about fishing.

But reading that you are irrelevant is not that fun, so I have a new rule: NEVER read Huff Po comments.

What I will do is write about movies and that crazy world of pop culture. But I'm also going to write about making the hard decisions and what happens when you're 34 and still don't have all the answers.

Oh, and I'm probably going to make a lot of spelling mistakes.

I hope you'll stick around for all of it.

--------

Have comments? Please join our conversation over on Facebook