A Life Lessons Anthology

Every month an author of note submits a very personal essay to Real Simple’s Life Lessons column. Browse this collection of past contributions―and exclusive Q&A’s with the writers.

Attention, Life Lessons contest entrants: For contest rules, FAQs, and more, click here.

This Month’s Essay

• I Don’t Know How to Love You by Alysia Abbott (October 2012)

Previous Essays

• Seeing Ghosts by James Ireland Baker (August 2012)
• Miss Independent by Cathi Hanauer (July 2012)
• Father Shops Best by Dan Zevin (June 2012)
• The Giving Tree by Francine Prose (May 2012)
• Someone to Hold On To by Mara Eve Robbins (April 2012)
• Beautiful, in Every Single Way by Elizabeth Berg (March 2012)
• How to Say Good-Bye by Jill Bialosky (February 2012)
• Mending Fences by Ann Hood (January 2012)
• Give as Good as You Get by Kathryn and Colin Harrison (December 2011)
• Thanksgiving Is a Beast by Karen Russell (November 2011)
• Get Me Outta Here by Judith Newman (October 2011)
• The Secret History by Nancy Gibbs (September 2011)
• Count Me Out by Helen Schulman (August 2011)
• The Miracle of Faith by J. Courtney Sullivan (July 2011)
• Thanks for the Ride by Ann Packer (June 2011)
• Then There Was You by Anne Roiphe (May 2011)
• The Ride of Her Life by Dorothy Fortenberry (April 2011, winner of the 2011 Life Lessons Essay Contest)
• The Mother I Never Had by Paula McLain (March 2011)
• Can't Hardly Wait by Lucinda Rosenfeld (February 2011)
• This Is a True Story by Julianna Baggott (January 2011)
• Woman Versus Food by Nicole Krauss (December 2010)
• 7 Authors Share Tales of Family Thanksgiving Traditions (November 2010)
• My One and Only by Rebecca Walker (September 2010)
• Napping, A Love Story by Cathleen Schine (August 2010)
• Losing My Mother by Judy Goldman  (July 2010)
• Blond Ambition by Ann Hood (June 2010)
• Can I Call You Back in 15 Years?  by Kristin van Ogtrop (May 2010)
• Beauty in Motion by Andrea Avery (April 2010, winner of the 2010 Life Lessons Essay Contest)
• Hello, Stranger by Julianna Baggott (March 2010)
• A Stirring Tale by Laurie Sandell (February 2010)
• The Honest-to-Goodness Friend by Elizabeth Berg (January 2010)
• Letting Go by Karen Joy Fowler (December 2009)
• The Kindness of Strangers by Mary Karr (November 2009)
• Confessions of an Infomaniac by Christopher Healy (October 2009)
• Not What She Expected by Diana Abu-Jaber (September 2009)
• Anything for a Buck by Julie Rottenberg (August 2009)
• You’ve Got to Read This by Jancee Dunn (July 2009)
• In Defense of Male Clutter by Steve Almond (June 2009)
• Married to Mr. Clean by Sally Koslow (May 2009)
• Parenting a Child With a Disability by Judith Scott (April 2009, runner-up in the 2009 Life Lessons Essay Contest)
• A Witness to Grace by Aldra Robinson (April 2009, winner of the 2009 Life Lessons Essay Contest)
• Good in Bed by Julie Rottenberg (February 2009)