Hey Reader,
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When I was younger—back when I thought I was going to be an actress—I was determined to be serious.
Not like a soap opera actress (the horror!). Not some sitcom sidekick.
I was going to be deep. Intense. The kind of person who quoted obscure plays and cried convincingly under a single spotlight. Think more Meryl Streep than Susan Lucci.

I thought that’s what mattered: gravitas. Prestige. Seriousness.

And then life happened.
And I have to tell you it took way longer than it should have for me to realize: joy matters.
Fun matters.
Love stories matter.

It’s something NYTimes bestselling author Katherine Center talks about in this week’s Roar podcast episode. How she was trained as a writer to take literature seriously—to study the dark, weighty stuff. But over time, she realized she didn’t just love love stories, she needed them. And so do the rest of us.

Because joy isn’t frivolous.
It’s fuel.
It’s survival.

Katherine put it best:

“I really do think that love stories can save the world. And I think we dismiss them at our peril.”

Dismiss them—and the joy, the lightness, the sheer fizziness they bring to our lives—at our peril.​
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Because life is—despite what we often forget when we’re paying bills and emptying the dishwasher and racing through the thousand tiny things that need to get done but pull us from the big picture—a wild, miraculous, messy joyride meant to be packed full of love.

I think about how much time I spent trying to be “legit”—whether as an actor, a writer, or just a human—how often I dismissed what actually made me happy because I didn’t think it counted.
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I didn’t think I counted unless I was doing something serious.
Turns out, joy counts.​
And get this: it might count more than anything. I mean, just imagine how much fun Susan Lucci must be having!

Give yourself permission to enjoy something this week.
And if you need help getting started, Katherine’s words are the perfect place:
👉 [Listen to the episode here.]

And hey—whether you’re protesting the 4th, celebrating it, or just using it as an excuse to watch Jaws for the hundredth time (hi, it’s me)—have a fabulous weekend.
(For many of us, it’s a long one...yipppppeeeeee!)

XO,

Danielle

P.S. If you’ve ever wrestled with taking yourself—or your dreams—too seriously, you’re not alone. Consider this your reminder: you don’t need permission to love what you love. Go all in.

P.P.S. If this made you feel like cueing up a rom-com or dropping your to-do list to spin in circles or splash down a water slide, you can fuel my next love letter to the world right here: [Buy Me a Coffee link]. (Because even love stories need caffeine.)

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