SELF-HELP | Nan McNamara

The Stuff That Really Matters

There’s a soft, brown cotton sweater hanging on a hook in my closet that I slip on when I wake. Mornings can sometimes be chilly in L.A., and even though I’m Minnesota born and bred, I’ve lived in California so long that 60 degrees can seem downright freezing.

The sweater was worn by my dear friend Elaine. She died of ovarian cancer in 1999, and I think of her every morning I put it on. It’s a piece of clothing that probably didn’t hold much significance to her when she was alive, but it’s become something I treasure.

When

August 24, 2025

ACTOR'S LIFE, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

The Strongest Woman I’ve Ever Known

Nan McNamara

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“What’s up, Chicken Butt?”

I don’t know the origin of this greeting – probably from some childhood game. But for me, it was how I began every phone conversation with my Mom. We spoke nearly every day. Sometimes I’d call on my morning hike and sometimes when I was making dinner. The conversations weren’t necessarily long or deep, but I loved the ritual — knowing what she ate, what she was watching on tv, how many card games of 500 she had won, what the weather was like.

There are also specific phone conversations I recall — whenever I

July 23, 2025

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Fear: How To Turn On The Light

Nan McNamara

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It was the worst thing to be asked. We dreaded it. We argued over it. But more than anything, my siblings and I feared it. The basement. Specifically, being asked to go into the furnace room to get anything out of the freezer after dinner. In the dark.

If you didn’t grow up in the midwest, you might need some perspective here. First, basements are the norm in my native state of Minnesota. Ours was almost completely finished off with knotty pine paneling and a linoleum floor. At one point, we even had a ping pong table (bought by

April 30, 2024

CONFIDENCE, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Ode To A Dog

Nan McNamara

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There are two magnets placed on the front of our stainless steel refrigerator. One reads, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” and the other reads “My dog — a heartbeat at my feet.”

The former is attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt; the latter to Edith Wharton — two women whose legacies should most certainly be celebrated as we conclude Women’s History Month. But it’s Ms. Wharton’s quote that has been stuck in my head for just over two weeks ago.

We had to say goodbye to our sweet doggy, Sally, on March 16.

We aren’t quite sure how

March 31, 2024

INSPIRATION, SELF-HELP

The Triple Threat

Nan McNamara

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It’s that time of year. As the holidays wind down and the New Year is almost upon us, the triple threat of merry, melancholy and malaise have struck once again. And although the sun is mostly shining here in California, I wake in the morning sensing a seasonal weightiness in the air.

I recall December mornings in Minnesota. Nowhere else will you experience pitch black in combination with bracing cold and deafening quiet. One morning, more than a couple of decades ago, I woke early, my flannel nightgown sewn by my Mom twisted around my legs. Throwing back the covers

December 30, 2023

CONFIDENCE, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Listening To My Elders

Nan McNamara

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One of my best friends is Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Well, I guess I should clarify. I’m pretty sure that we SHOULD be best friends. Or at least that we WOULD be best friends, if we ever met.

Who didn’t love her on Seinfeld or The New Adventures of Old Christine? She’s brilliant on Veep. I can’t wait to see her latest feature film, You Hurt My Feelings. And if you haven’t seen her Mark Twain Prize acceptance speech, you have to check it out here.

But her wonderful gifts as an actor aren’t what convinced

August 21, 2023

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

I Feel Like School Starts Tomorrow

Nan McNamara

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I’m thinking about my carefree 12-year old self this Labor Day weekend and feeling a bit of adult melancholy. What happened to those empty summer days we had ahead of us just three months ago? So many plans – dreams of pool-side drinks and long hikes and naps dancing in my head.

But now, it’s all over. My head is full of phrases like, “You better get busy” and a slight sense of dread.

Emotional Calendar

Labor Day might be bringing up these feelings for you, too. There’s an emotional calendar to our lives and maybe, like me, you

September 2, 2019

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, FASHION, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Did You Know There’s a Documentary About YOU?

Nan McNamara

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Did You Know There’s a Documentary About YOU?

Did you grow up in a household with home movies? I didn’t. I’ve always been a little envious of friends whose Dad or Mom was the family videographer, capturing birthdays and Christmas and family vacations. Photo albums and slides are wonderful, but to have video? That would be something.

I think of home movies as being the layman’s version of a documentary. And with this being called the golden age of documentaries, there are some amazingly well-told life stories out there. From Ruth Bader Ginsberg to Jane Fonda to Mister Rogers, the inspiration these

October 1, 2018

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

My Invitation to the Royal Wedding

Nan McNamara

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It’s been almost three months since the royal wedding. And I can’t quite delete the DVR recording of it, even though I’ve watched the whole thing, seen the BBC highlights and read the People magazine story from cover to cover.

A lot has been said about the reasons people have been and continue to be so fascinated by the event and this magical couple. The idea of a young woman from the United States becoming a real-life princess is a fairy tale come true.

But I think most analysts boil it down to our desire to watch something positive

August 10, 2018

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Here’s to an Uncomfortable 2018!

Nan McNamara

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The year will be remembered (among other things) as the year I was on the Kiwanis speaking circuit. If you didn’t grow up in the midwest or you aren’t of a ‘certain age,’ you might be saying, “What’s a Kiwanis?”

Well, in very simple terms, Kiwanis is a club where professional folks come together for a meal, listen to a speaker, and encourage social and charitable contributions to the community.

But if you have ever attended a Kiwanis meeting, you know it is so much more than that dry description. These people are fierce – fierce in their

January 1, 2018

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP