Add It To My List: August 2017

 Link-up creators are Lauren from Eat, Drink, & Be Lauren and Bre from Bre Writes. Basically, they are always recommending things to each other- podcasts, television shows, music, blah blah blah. And they figured- why not share even further?

• Call The Midwife
• This show. Guys. Seriously, watch it right now. At first I thought it was only okay.  I'm now in Season 4 and it keeps hitting it out of the damn park. Poverty, religion, PTSD, race, LGBT+...it's hitting so many topics and handling them beautifully! Especially given the time period it's set in (post WW2). Also, kind of a love letter to the NHS and feminism in general. Ahhh I'm loving it.
• e.l.f. Complexion Brush
• I bought my first ever make-up brush. I can't even say this one is that good, because I can't compare...but it's doing the job for this newbie.
• This YouTube video Yoga for Runners
• I ran two miles the other day, and hadn't ran for months. I expected to be miserable the next day, so I did this video right after. I barely felt a thing and wasn't sore at all. I'm not a yogi in any way, but this seriously makes a world of difference.
• This post from Jen. I have stopped being as vocal or active about politics because...there are people saying what I want to say, and saying it better than I can. And it still somehow seems like those in a position of power aren't listening. But I can not stop saying it. 
• This article about the view of Charlottesville from Berlin, Germany. 
• This video from Hank Green about staying in your lane & racism.

And I realize I'm posting a lot from white people, but I am a white person and it seems really really important that we step the fuck up and realize we are a big part of the problem so I'm glad to see people address it. But that's problematic in it's own way...

 

What have you been enjoying this month?

Self Care: Part Two

Photo by Hannah Morgan on Unsplash

I've thought a lot about self-care in the past few months. It's important. And the thing I've come to realize is, not only does self-care differ between different people- it's different for me personally depending on what is going on in my life.

Sometimes self-care is taking time to stop and paint my toes. This past weekend, it was taking time to clean my disgusting shower so I don't feel like a gross slacker every time I get in it. Was it the most enjoyable 20-30 minutes of my life? No. Do I think "Good job on fixing the problem, you rock?" every time I get in the shower now? Yes, yes I do.

So here are some more self-care habits I've enjoyed lately:

• Pinterest only or reading before bed. 
• For many reasons, but basically the internet does not always contain peaceful, calming topics.
• Unfollowing FB groups.
• I love them, but they can suck me in and take my attention away from other more important things. They're there if I want them, but they don't clutter up my feed anymore.
• Washing the shower
• see above.
• Journaling.
• I love planners and the act of physically writing. Most planners don't work because they allot each day the same amount, so I have been using the Bullet Journal method. I tried once before, but people have taken the original method and expanded it to a glorified art journal...I can't do that. But I can stick with the minimalist method and actually organize my life better. Plus I like writing down little snippets of my day. Not necessarily important, but somehow calms me.
• Buying new shorts. 
• I had one pair, and typically this isn't a big deal because I don't wear them during the week or to church. But it's about a million degrees and I needed another pair to make me feel better about not constantly wearing the same thing every Saturday. It's worth the 10$.
• Napping with Babycakes. 
• Poor thing is teething- she likes to get 2-4 teeth at a time. Just over a year old and she has almost 80% of her teeth already. Pretty sure she's also hitting a growth spurt. So it's not always a party at my house. She is a great sleeper 95% of the time but lately she's been having a few rough days/nights. Last weekend I just gave up and let her nap in the bed with me since she did NOT want to be alone. She sleeps in her crib almost all of the time, but everyone deserves a treat sometimes, especially when they're not feeling well. And it was better for me too since I got to rest comfortably instead of trying to force it.

What does self-care mean for you right now?

Getting Back into My Reading Groove

 For a while I tried to focus on reading books I felt like I was supposed to read. 

Whatever that meant. Some of it was good- I enjoyed the works of Jane Austen, once I got used to the language. I read books for my diversity reading challenge that were fantastic works of art and stories of people that are too often ignored.

But I did not enjoy A Farewell to Arms or Wuthering Heights, and Journey to the Center of the Earth along with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy have officially confirmed that sci-fi is just not my thing.

All this was my choice, but it lead to reading not necessarily being the great pleasure of my life that it once was. 

For a while I wondered if it was that chapter of my life, or if I had fundamentally changed. I just wasn't gobbling up books the way I used to.

In a way, it was good that I was trying to stretch my horizons. But...I'm not a scholar. It's not going to make a difference in my life if I read Proust or not.

Lately I have read a few books that I enjoyed immensely, and quickly. It made me feel...youthful.

In high school I would devour books.

I enjoyed everything- even things that probably weren't the most literary or diverse. But they were pleasurable. They passed my time well.

I think part of it has to do with having a baby, but it started way before that.

The biggest thing to blame? Probably my smart phone.

It's easier to carry around and can function in so many different ways. But lately I've been trying to put the friggin' phone down (for many reasons). And I've started reading again instead.

It's somehow much better to read at night before bed- regardless of what I'm reading. Books about heavy topics are still preferable to the internet when it comes to keeping myself mentally stable. 

Not only that, I'm reading things I enjoy. Now, I've been reading things I wanted to read in theory...but I forced myself to keep going even if I didn't enjoy it once I actually started reading it.

There's something to be said for reading for pure, mindless joy. 

I want to read books that are out of my comfort zone and make me think critically. And other times I want to read fluff. All these things are okay.

Balance. I'm learning over and over and over how important balance and variety are to my sanity. 

Maybe some of you are more mature or self-aware and know this already. But I've let myself think too many parts of life have to be all or nothing, or that seasons are sometimes permanent.

I'm grateful that I'm learning to accept the seasons for what they are and go with the flow.