Welcome to Episode 323 of Live Happy Now.

Last year, poet Maggie Smith gave us the book we needed with the bestseller, Keep Moving,

Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change.

This year, she's back with a new book that helps us rediscover the magic of living in the moment.

I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and today Maggie is here to talk about her new book, Goldenrod,

which explores some common themes such as parenthood, gratitude, solitude, love, and loss.

Let's hear what she has to say about these universal themes and how she's learned to live in the moment.

Maggie, thank you so much for being on Live Happy Now.

Well, thanks for having me.

You know, you are our first poet.

We have had authors.

We've had musicians with a lot of psychologists and we've never had a poet before.

So you're making Live Happy history right now.

I'm honored to be the first. Well, and deservedly so because, you know, you're a poet before. So you're making live happy history right now. I'm honored to be the first.

Well, and deservedly so because, you know, your poetry has really struck a chord with audiences

around the world. And poetry is a tough genre because unlike writing fiction, you don't have a lot

of ramp room to, you know, catch their attention. You really have to get it from the beginning.

So what is it that has allowed you to be able to just really reach out? ramp room to, you know, catch their attention. You really have to get it from the beginning. So

what is it that has allowed you to be able to just really reach out and touch people with your

poetry? That's a funny question because I feel like that's really for the reader to answer. I can't

say, you know, I don't know necessarily what it is that makes someone attach to one of my poems. I know what it's like for me

to feel a sense of accomplishment once I've written it, like feeling like the poem is sort of

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