Glad to Be Human: Adventures in Optimism

Written by Irene O'Garden

Narrated by Callie Beaulieu

Celebrate Life Just Because

In a world so often filled with distressing news and bewildering violence, being “human” often gets a bad rap. Rejoice in everyday reasons to smile, think positively, and enjoy the gift of life.

Take a walk on the bright side. In Glad To Be Human: Adventures in Optimism, award-winning writer Irene O’Garden reminds us of the radiance of human existence. From kitchens to gardens to busy city streets, all around, in your everyday life, you can find plenty of reasons to feel gratitude and hope, peace and joy.

It’s the little things. In this collection of essays, O’Garden explores a wide range of practical reasons to celebrate life—just look closely around you. In one essay, she describes the simple pleasure that comes from clearing clutter off a desk—in another, the thrill of visiting the Statue of Liberty. The book’s grand finale is the Pushcart Prize-winning essay, “Glad To Be Human.”

One simple message. Through contemplation, meditation and with literary style, Glad To Be Human invites readers to view life through a positive lens. From small, daily activities to journeys overseas, O’Garden has a knack for finding beauty and meaning in all life’s adventures—even in our deepest pain and suffering—helping all of us feel glad to be human.

If you enjoy Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Anne Lamott, or books like Risking the Rapids, The Book of Joy, The Book of Delights, and The Gratitude Diaries, you’ll love O’Garden’s Glad to Be Human.

Foreword by Christine Carlson.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks
• Release date: Aug 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664989771

Irene O'Garden

Irene O’Garden has won or been nominated for prizes in nearly every writing category from stage to e-screen, hardcovers, children’s books as well as literary magazines and anthologies. Her critically-acclaimed play Women On Fire, (Samuel French) starring Judith Ivey, played sold-out houses at Off-Broadway’s Cherry Lane Theatre and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award. Her new play, Little Heart, won her a Berilla Kerr Playwriting Fellowship and was awarded full development at the New Harmony Play Project. O’Garden was awarded a Pushcart Prize for her lyric essay “Glad To Be Human,” (Untreed Reads.) Harper published her first memoir Fat Girl and Nirala Press recently published her book Fulcrum, Selected Poems, which contains her prize-winning poem “Nonfiction.” Her poems and essays have been featured in dozens of literary journals and award-winning anthologies (including A Slant of Light, USA Book award Best Anthology), and she has been honored with an Alice Desmond Award and an Oppenheimer for her children’s books. A seasoned and entertaining presenter both on stage and video, O’Garden has appeared at top literary venues: including The Player’s Club, the Bowery Poetry Club, Nuyorican Poetry Café, and KGB in Manhattan; The Poetry Café, Mycennae House and Vinyl Deptford in London, and all throughout the Hudson Valley. She’s a regular contributor to 650—Where Writers Read, in New York City and Sarah Lawrence College and has received several grants from Poets and Writers. Irene also presents to an audience of hundreds annually at the Global Seth Conference. O’Garden has lived joyfully with her husband John Pielmeier, for 40 years. Most known for his play Agnes of God, John also writes movies and miniseries for television. This year, Scribner published his first novel, Hook’s Tale,” and his stage adaptation of The Exorcist opened in London’s West End.