--- title: Tiny Beautiful Things description: Cheryl Strayed reminds us that within the chaos of our shame and disappointment and rage there is meaning canonical: https://time.com/3735590/tiny-beautiful-things/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-13T14:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:15:27.692Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Tiny Beautiful Things og:description: Cheryl Strayed reminds us that within the chaos of our shame and disappointment and rage there is meaning og:url: https://time.com/3735590/tiny-beautiful-things/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc79fe10acac08c00/6987838735ba6fa918c078b4/tiny-beautiful-things-cheryl-strayed.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tiny Beautiful Things twitter:description: Cheryl Strayed reminds us that within the chaos of our shame and disappointment and rage there is meaning twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc79fe10acac08c00/6987838735ba6fa918c078b4/tiny-beautiful-things-cheryl-strayed.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tiny Beautiful Things by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Mar 13, 2015 2:00 PM UTC  Vintage by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Mar 13, 2015 2:00 PM UTC On March 11, 2010, a new writer took over “Dear Sugar,” an advice column on the Web site the Rumpus. She claimed she would offer a combination of “the by-the-book common sense of Dear Abby and the earnest spiritual cheesiness of Cary Tennis and the butt-pluggy irreverence of Dan Savage and the closeted Upper East Side nymphomania of Miss Manners.” It became clear after a while that she was an advice columnist unlike others: intimate and frank, dispensing advice built on a foundation drawn of deep personal experience. Slowly over the next two years, we learned a little more about her until eventually Sugar formally introduced herself as Cheryl Strayed. Strayed is the author behind the book [Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail](http://a-fwd.com/es=farstrblo068-21&it=farstrblo0a-21&fr=farstrblo08-21&de=farstrblo07-21&uk=farstrblo-21&ca=farst-20&com=farnamstreet-20&asin-es=0307476073&asin-it=0307476073&asin-fr=0307476073&asin-de=0307476073&asin-uk=0307476073&asin-ca=0307476073&asin-com=0307476073). I remember reading this book cover-to-cover on a flight. When the pilot announced that we’d be circling Heathrow for 20 minutes, I was the only one happy. I only had a few pages left. In a way Sugar’s advice columns — combined into the amazing collection [Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar](http://a-fwd.com/es=farstrblo068-21&it=farstrblo0a-21&fr=farstrblo08-21&de=farstrblo07-21&uk=farstrblo-21&ca=farst-20&com=farnamstreet-20&asin-es=0307949338&asin-it=0307949338&asin-fr=0307949338&asin-de=0307949338&asin-uk=0307949338&asin-ca=0307949338&asin-com=0307949338) — represents an ad hoc memoir. “But it’s a memoir with an agenda,” Strayed’s friend Steve Almond writes in the introduction, “With great patience, and eloquence, (Sugar) assures her readers that within the chaos of our shame and disappointment and rage there is meaning, and within that meaning is the possibility of rescue.” --- > “” --- One of my favorite letters, the one for which the book is titled, comes in response to this question. --- > “” --- Think, dear reader, for a moment on what you would respond before continuing. Here is what Sugar, or should I say, Cheryl, had to say. These words will touch your soul. --- > “” --- “[Tiny Beautiful Things](http://a-fwd.com/es=farstrblo068-21&it=farstrblo0a-21&fr=farstrblo08-21&de=farstrblo07-21&uk=farstrblo-21&ca=farst-20&com=farnamstreet-20&asin-es=0307949338&asin-it=0307949338&asin-fr=0307949338&asin-de=0307949338&asin-uk=0307949338&asin-ca=0307949338&asin-com=0307949338) will endure as a piece of literary art,” Almond writes, “as will Cheryl’s other books ([Torch](http://a-fwd.com/es=farstrblo068-21&it=farstrblo0a-21&fr=farstrblo08-21&de=farstrblo07-21&uk=farstrblo-21&ca=farst-20&com=farnamstreet-20&asin-es=B0092EE9P2&asin-it=B0092EE9P2&asin-fr=B0092EE9P2&asin-de=B0092EE9P2&asin-uk=B0092EE9P2&asin-ca=B0092EE9P2&asin-com=B0092EE9P2) and [Wild](http://a-fwd.com/es=farstrblo068-21&it=farstrblo0a-21&fr=farstrblo08-21&de=farstrblo07-21&uk=farstrblo-21&ca=farst-20&com=farnamstreet-20&asin-es=0307476073&asin-it=0307476073&asin-fr=0307476073&asin-de=0307476073&asin-uk=0307476073&asin-ca=0307476073&asin-com=0307476073)), because they do the essential work of literary art: they make us more human than we were before.” **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 50,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3735590/tiny-beautiful-things/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3735590/tiny-beautiful-things/"},"headline":"Tiny Beautiful Things","datePublished":"2015-03-13T14:00:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:15:27.692Z","description":"Cheryl Strayed reminds us that within the chaos of our shame and disappointment and rage there is meaning","url":"https://time.com/3735590/tiny-beautiful-things/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc79fe10acac08c00/6987838735ba6fa918c078b4/tiny-beautiful-things-cheryl-strayed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc79fe10acac08c00/6987838735ba6fa918c078b4/tiny-beautiful-things-cheryl-strayed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed","caption":"Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed","creditText":"Vintage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3735590/tiny-beautiful-things/","name":"Tiny Beautiful Things"}}]}] ```