“It is possible to be happy even when you are miserable,” Claudia Bushman writes in her newly published autobiography, I, Claudia. I happen to agree. Why? Because as Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project teaches, happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy. If your general sense of happiness includes strong, healthy relationships with your children, it doesn’t mean you have to spark with joy during a 3 am feeding and diaper change. If your general sense of happiness includes good oral hygiene, it doesn’t mean you have to look forward to your next dental cleaning.
Happiness is less about the actions or feelings of a given moment, which may include many miserable experiences, but about cultivating a life aligned with your values while engaging in meaningful work and prioritizing relationships and community (and for some, faith).
In I, Claudia: The Life of Claudia Lauper Bushman in Her Own Words (2024, Kofford Books), Claudia offers several aphorisms to live—and quit—by among stories of her long and fascinating life.
“If I didn’t quit, I could never go on.” Some jobs and responsibilities must be put down to pick up others. Claudia could take on many large and significant projects partly because she put down others and learned to prioritize. I believe this aphorism is true over the course of years as well as over the course of a day or week.
One of my favorite Claudia aphorisms is, “If you keep up, you’ll never get ahead.” As a mother of several young children as she did her master’s and doctorate degrees and undertook teaching classes, publishing books, and launching projects such as Exponent II, she gave up on “keeping up” with being fashionable or having the cleanest home. I value the permission to choose to exit the race to be best in every category. Mothers can do many things at once, but we all have limited time and must choose where to put our energy. It is empowering to choose.
And for anyone who has spent any time around Claudia, her most famous and oft-repeated aphorism is, of course, “A record shall/must be kept.” I was familiar with the broad strokes of Claudia’s life from my time interviewing her and studying her role in the founding of Exponent II and her influence on Mormon feminism, but her autobiography offers stories and frank assessments of her life that I am glad to have learned. Why were there years when she would seethe with anger from the church pews while wrestling her young children? What was it like to follow her husband’s career moves as he went on to something, and she would leave her community and projects to go on to nothing? What does it take to catch a vision of something meaningful and make it happen?
Claudia has had a significant impact on Mormon feminism, Mormon women’s history, and beyond. Mark your calendars for the upcoming one-day event on Saturday, March 15, 2025, from 9 am to 9 pm, at the University of Utah Eccles Alumni House in Salt Lake City. Organized by Maxine Hanks, Caroline Kline, and Amy Hoyt, the event will honor the pioneering work of Claudia Lauper Bushman. A link to the Eventbrite free ticket request will follow shortly, as well as live steam Zoom links. More details and a full lineup will be available soon, but speakers include Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Judy Dushku, Jana Riess, Taylor Petrey, and more!
In the meantime, enter this GIVEAWAY to win a copy of I, Claudia: The Life of Claudia Lauper Bushman in Her Own Words. Comment below for one entry, share the giveaway on social media and comment again for a second entry, and follow @exponentii_blog and @katieludlowrich on Instagram and comment again for a third entry. Enter by Friday, January 17. The winner will be randomly selected on Saturday, January 18. The winner must have a US mailing address.
17 Responses
What an awesome event! I can’t wait to go!!
I’ll be out of the country or I would have come!
Added to my calendar! Will be a lovely way to say goodbye to winter and greet the fresh breeze of spring.
Added to my calendar. It will be a lovely way to say goodbye to winter and greet the fresh breeze of spring.
What a lovely review. And what a powerful Mormon Feminist event! AND book giveaway! Thanks, Katie.
Meeting Claudia last year was a “bucket. List” event for me. I cannot wait for March 15.
I have only positive things to say about Claudia Bushman. I met her when I was 19 years old I moved to Delaware to attend the University of Delaware. She and her husband were living there. I had already decided I wasn’t going to attend church, but the day after my best friend and I arrived (a Saturday), she called on the phone and said she would pick us up for church on Sunday morning and by the way, she needed us for the choir. She took care of us all year. Inviting us to Thanksgiving dinner at her home, driving us to church every Sunday, bringing us to the Symphony Tea, numerous musical events, and museum outings. Honestly, it was the most wonderful year because of her kindness. It was also the best I ever felt about “church.” If you get to hear her, go.
When I joined the church in Massachusetts, Claudia Bushman was what I saw as what a Mormon woman was like. I thought she was amazing (and I still do!) …however, after 2 years as a Math major at BYU, I realized that she was the exception! Can’t wit to read her book!
When I joined the church in Massachusetts, Claudia Bushman was what I saw as what a Mormon woman was like. I thought she was amazing (and I still do!) …however, after 2 years as a Math major at BYU, I realized that she was the exception! Can’t wait to read her book!
So exciting! Can’t wait to gather together to honor Claudia and her latest book. Forever grateful for her nudges and geneous support years ago when I was in NYC. I hear her voice reminding me to “carry on!”
My Gram was friends with Claudia during their time in Boston together. I met Claudia while on a trip to NYC – she came up and welcomed me and my friend in between the two wards’ Sacrament Meetings. Looking forward to reading her book!!
That’s a seriously awesome lineup of speakers! I can’t wait to tune in
I was a subscriber to the early Exponent II. It was so valuable in the late seventies to not feel so alone in my Mormon feminist leanings. I look forward to honoring such a woman.
What an incredible book, and one that I am very much looking forward to reading!
Excited to attend!
Thank you to all who entered the giveaway! Julia is the winner.
This sounds like a lovely book and great event! I’ll try to fit the event by ZOOM into my schedule.