Bookshelf: Oct-Dec 2020
Happy 2021. Thank goodness! The last quarter was good for reading, though I ran out of new books as Christmas approached and had to wait for Santa. But a couple of rereads were worth it.
On Motherhood
When I began my journey as a mother nine years ago, I thought there was only one kind – the patient, omniscient, selfless matriarch who never tires and never complains. She has makeup on, there isn’t a hair out of place, her clothes are neatly ironed, and she is happy. She exudes confidence and joy. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
Bookshelf July-September 2020
We’re still living in quasi-quarantine, and my synapses don’t seem too sharp. Lesson learned: write notes about books as soon as I finish them. So what did I read?
RBG Reflections
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born the year after my mother’s birth. She was of the generation of women on whose shoulders we stand today.
Quarantine Crazy
Remember when we were all binge-watching Tiger King and waiting for Covid-quarantine to be over before Mother’s Day?
attachments
i want to draw a map of all the places your mind wanders...
The Plot Twist
Do you ever look back on your less-positive experiences and discover they set you on the path to something great or at least better? Hindsight is a gift for reflecting on closed doors and seeing the windows that opened instead. I’m beginning to see the plot twist more regularly.
Overlook 10
Overlook 10s are not bad decisions or wrong turns or missed opportunities. They are not unrealistic expectations that go unmet. Overlook 10s are doing everything right, and things still not panning out as you’d hoped.
Bookshelf: April – June 2020
These are the strangest of times, with no end in sight. Covid-19 quarantine. Explosive racial unrest and social justice marches (over-riding quarantines). Political division and discord in a presidential election year. In some ways, my reading reflects the times.
My Father, My Friend
Randomly, I came across a reference to "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." I searched out Neil Diamond singing “Be” on iTunes. Sure took me back, to the time Dad gave me that book. He knew I was different from other kids, struggling to fit in; the book was his surefire way to tell me it’s okay to be who we are, that loners can be leaders….that I would “be” who I would be.
The Color of His Skin
What is a nice, privileged white woman like me supposed to think, feel, write when police officers torture a man for eight minutes, hearing him scream until he dies?
Reflections on 60
I don’t feel 60. I don’t know what 60 is supposed to feel like, but how can I have been alive six decades? It sounds a bit old to me, though my definition of “old” has certainly changed as the hill got closer. That hill.
A Puzzling Paradigm
It's a weird season. Time itself has become a strange phenomenon - more relative, more subjective, and both more and less significant. Everything has slowed as we find ourselves collectively and individually stumbling around in the dark, looking for a new normal. Fear and hope can exist at the same time - as can science and spirituality. I just have to hold it all loosely - and if there has ever been a time to hold things loosely, it's right now.
Bookshelf: Feb-March 2020
Okay…so monthly updates on books I’ve read seems a little much. As in, too much pressure. So, I’m going to wrap up February and March, then switch to quarterly summaries. And let me just say, February and March have been odd months; I don’t know how non-readers survive. More to come on that but thank goodness I keep a stack of unread books.
Pandemic Pondering
Remember to be kinder to each other and to ourselves. Remember the heroes are those on the front lines: nurses, lab techs, grocery cashiers, restaurant workers, baristas. Remember this sense of caring for our community. May we remember to extend grace.
Count Me Present… and Grateful
“I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.” --Anna Quindlen
Dead Flowers and Letting Go
It’s day three of staring at the dead flowers on my dining room table. I still find them beautiful - nuanced and layered and wise. They’re making a mess though. Every day more leaves and petals adorn the wood beneath them, and I feel sad when I look at them. They are fully - dead.
Put the Kid on the Bus.
I can decisively and efficiently move through a professional creative project with objectivity and fortitude. A personal creative project? Cue inner turmoil and second-guessing and procrastinating and chaos.
Bookshelf: January 2020
I’ve never been great at tracking the books I read – and I’ve been known to question whether I’ve already read a book that appeals to me. Rebecca and I tend to share books, so she’s the person I can say “you know that one about ….” And she actually does know.
Dissonance
Music has been such a gentle and patient friend for decades now – one of the few spaces where my mind, body, and spirit are fully integrated. Even the language used to describe the artist’s intention for a piece of music also accurately describe the human experience – dynamics, harmony, lines, spaces, tempo, resolution. And dissonance.
savior
i've walked tightropes in hallways,
Favorite Books for Each Age
It’s hard to pick favorite books, and I won’t even include the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling on my list. Harry’s story is an epic tale of the power of love, friendship, loss, and the triumph of good over evil. Though categorized as “young adult,” I read them in my 40’s (when they came out). The series defies age limits and would be consistent on all my lists. But here are some favorites for different age groups, as well as 2019 favorites.
Bandaids are not Stickers
The point was not that bandaids actually made anything better, but that they made my kids feel better. It didn’t matter that the skin hadn’t been broken or that the source of their pain was invisible - a bandaid brought comfort.
to whom it may concern
i don’t think that’s what he was warning me about when he told me i could overdose.