When the kids were young, I used to tickle them during family photos to get some genuine laughs.
As they got bigger and stronger, they got better at stopping me so I had to devise a better strategy to ensure we didn’t end up with a bunch of fake smiles.
We start our sessions with smiles, and then do a bunch of faces (sad face, angry face, shocked face, etc.) And then we start to fake laugh. I told the kids that the camera can’t tell when you’re fake laughing so we fake it.
And the camera can’t tell.
But here’s the best part: a few seconds into the fake laughing we start laughing for real. We can’t help it. The whole thing feels so absurd that we start laughing and laughing and laughing.
And the camera captures those too.
Sometimes faking it till you make it is the best strategy after all.
Played with lots of paint today while I listened to a good book. Painting, journaling, reading. These things never get old for me.
I am so grateful to the people who fill our lives with stories to read, stories to watch, they create worlds we can live in however briefly and let us peek into other worlds.
2020 and 2021 have been tough years by all accounts. There’s so much going on in the world and it’s easy to feel frozen to inaction by all of it. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed or dejected or even numb to all of it.
And yet.
Karen Walrond’s book is a light that shines your way to joy and possibility. Walrond is a coach, lawyer, photographer, and activist. She’s also a wonderful storyteller. Regardless of where you are in your journey to activism, there’s something in this book for you. There are inspiring stories, motivational examples, clear action and next steps and a full workbook for you to design your own personal journey.
There are varied examples of people taking action and practicing activism in a wide range of ways. Yet what they have in common is that they understand what deeply motivates them to do the work that they show up for. They know how to take breaks and they know how to add joy into their day to day so they can keep showing up and make this world a better place for all of us.
This is one of the most inspiring books I’ve read all year.
I’ve taken online classes by Walrond before and some of the exercises in the book are ones I’ve done in the past and yet I can’t wait to sit and do them all over again. I feel motivated, hopeful and joyful all at once and I cannot recommend this book enough.
with gratitude to Broadleaf Books and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars rounded for having a lot of food for thought
This is the story Elinor Hanson, an Asian-American, former model to returns near her hometown of Bakken, North Dakota to write about the oil boom in her town.
The book starts with a scene of Elinor on the airplane and her seat mate bothering her with questions and intrusions and builds from there to something quite disturbing and it pretty much doesn’t let up. She finds that her hometown is almost unrecognizable and is overrun by men.
There are so many issues tackled by this story that it’s almost too numerous to list, especially considering it’s a reasonably small book. Racism, sexism, misogyny, elitism, classism and so much more. Elinor’s discomfort is so palpable and well represented that one cannot help but feel unease and tension the entire book.
Even though it was tough to read this book and feel that discomfort the whole time, there was a lot to think about in this bool, the irony, the prose and the overall tone were well executed.
with gratitude to Macmillan Audio and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was a mystery with some interesting twists and turns. I somehow could not get into the audio itself and think I would have enjoyed it more if i were reading it. Nonetheless, I liked it.
This was a fun read, especially because it takes place right where i live. I wasn’t crazy about the plot and yes it was over the top but it was still fun and enjoyable.
The weekend is here and all I want to do is rest and hug my people. This little boy is always there for it. He’s kind and generous and so very loving. I am grateful every single day for him.
I’m grateful for my friend Evelyn who came over today.
I’m grateful that my older boy spent time hanging out with his friends after school today.
I’m grateful that my husband is spending time with his brother tonight.
There are 100 days left in 2021. Depending on who you are and how you filter life, this might feel exciting that we still get 100 more days or alarming that we only have 100 left.
I’m in neither camp today. These days I am leaning into “it is what it is” attitude and trying not make a bigger meaning around things.
I’ve been really tired lately and have a lot of headaches so I’ve been giving myself grace with what I can get done. Some things are behind and others are doing ok. I’m regressing and I am progressing and I am also standing still in some areas.
Back in 1996, I was living in NYC and working during the day and taking classes at night I loved having a variety of options to pick from and tried to take as many as I could.
One of the classes I took was American Sign Language. I wanted to learn ASL for years but it wasn’t offered in my college so I was excited to find it in NY. After a few years, I volunteered at the NY Society for the Deaf which was my only way to practice.
After I quit my job on Wall Street and became a teacher, I had to quit that volunteer job and I didn’t get to practice again for years.
About ten-twelve years ago, I was working at a scrapbooking convention and a customer came and she was deaf and I pulled out some of my rusty ASL and was able to help her.
And then nothing again.
Tonight, for the first time since then, we went climbing with a deaf climber and I was able to practice once more. I am super super rusty but we managed to communicate nonetheless. It felt so wonderful to get to do it again after so many years.
As the year winds down, I’ve been thinking a lot about what my goals will be for next year. As I was thinking about that, I realized that we are about to walk into a season of our lives where there will be big milestones.
My older son so be applying to college in the next calendar year, my younger son will finish middle school and soon after transition to high school. I can’t believe that in one year, my son will be the age I was when I left Turkey. That was a big turning point in my life.
As we walk into this stage, I have been thinking a lot about the kid of parent I want to be in this stage and the way I can support them best.
I think all the major relationships in my life shift over time. My relationship with my husband, my parents, my kids, my good friends. Who I am changes, where our relationship is changes and who they are changes too. So many of these dynamics change and it helps me to take a step back and be intentional about how I show up to them.
