Without Rain There Are No Rainbows
When we add something bright to a dark situation we can amplify its appeal (but this is not a good vibes only post!)
Hey everybody, it’s Jill here.
It’s spring and that means some pretty schizophrenic weather here in New England. Bright sun and warmth one minute, bone-chilling cold and downpours the next. And while my mood tends to fluctuate right along with the gray to sunny skies, I also love the idea that without rain, there are no rainbows. Not to mention the tulips, daffodils, forsythia, and other multi-colored flowers that thrive when they are treated to alternating sunshine and rain.
We see this in many metaphors—rain leading to rainbows, lemons becoming lemonade, lotuses (loti?) blooming out of mud—that when we add something bright, sweet, or warm to an otherwise dark, sour, or murky situation we can amplify its appeal. To me this isn’t about toxic positivity, pretending the rain doesn’t feel miserable, but about acknowledging our pain and turning it into something more.
I found out recently the hard cover edition of my book Imposter No More was being ‘remaindered.’ If you’ve never heard this term, just think of it as a four-letter word for authors. It means the remainder of your books are going to be sold to stores at beyond-bargain-basement prices. It’s sad. It feels like a failure. But just like bookstores can buy the remaindered copies at a steal, so can the author. So that’s just what I did.
My first order of business upon receiving the books was to bundle a few of them up with a blank journal (left over from when I published Be Mighty) and a handwritten note. Then I drove around town and placed the little twine-wrapped packages in the four Little Free Libraries (LFL) around my town. I invited my neighbors to reach out to me personally so we might connect and know one another.
Every author wants their book to be a runaway hit, but the reality is that rarely happens. Writers know this and keep writing anyway. We endure the many challenges of publishing because we hope our words and ideas will help someone. It’s that simple.
So while I had no control over my hardcover book being remaindered*, I still had the ability to share my words in the hopes that they would find someone at just the right time. And I put them in my local LFLs in hopes I might meet a neighbor or even make a new friend. To me, this lemons-into-lemonade story is an example of what it means to be psychologically flexible. To find, and live, your values—the who and how you want to live—even amid life’s many pains.
So how might you add sun to your rain and create a rainbow on an otherwise cold, wet day?
*I learned from a fellow author (who happens to be one of those rare best-selling authors) that having a hard-cover book remaindered after the paperback is released is actually quite common—it even happened with her best-seller. That made me feel a lot better and was a nice example of how sometimes our community is the sun to our rain!
Clinician’s Corner
If you want to level-up your ACT skills, I have three on-demand CE’s you can find here.
My feel-goody of the month
There are so many of these to share this spring, I’m struggling to choose just one. From my 13-year-old daughter making her musical debut in Newsies to a multicultural wedding with my beloved extended family to an inspiring day attending the TEDxPortsmouth event, I’ve been so fortunate to experience an immense amount of laughter and tears (the really good kind!) and am looking forward to more celebrations this summer.



My gratitude of the month
This month I am super grateful to the world’s best Pilates instructor, Kristin Martin. She recently opened her own studio in Seabook, NH, Positively Pilates, and the variety of classes, positive energy, and fun community make me excited to work out every weekday (plus it’s less expensive than most other Pilates studios!). I am bound and determined to not be an old old lady and Kristin is helping me get stronger every day. If you’ve ever wondered about Pilates and live on the north shore of MA or in south eastern NH, I HIGHLY recommend Positively Pilates.
My sponsees of the month
We recently had Rosalind Chow on our Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. She talked about the benefits of sponsorship, or advocating for others when they’re not in the room. This inspired me to change my “ask of the month” section to a “sponsee of the month” so I can recommend people, publications, and programs you might find helpful—a win for them and for you too, I hope! This month, I recommend two terrific books by recent POTC guests, Rosalind’s book The Doors You Can Open, and a related book by Alison Fragale, Likeable Badass. You can listen to my interview with Alison here. You can also subscribe to Alison’s substack at
and Rosalind’s at

I’d love to hear from you if you want to connect.
Hang tough, we’ve got this.
Thank you for sponsoring me and Alison! And thank you for sharing your story of having your hard covered remaindered. I know this is probably something that happens to most authors but isn’t talked about very much. Base rates suggest that I will get a similar note in the future, but I love your idea of taking those books and offering them as a point of connection with your community. You’re inspiring!
I'm currently listening to the audio version of Likeable Badass (thanks POTC!) and I love @alisonfragale 's concept of "small deposits". This post is a nesting doll of deposits and my favorite is the physical deposits into the LFLs!! Thank you as always for the inspiration :)