Year of Yes – 224
The water is always good for my soul. When in doubt, breathe the wild air.
Yes.
#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes
|
|
||
 Year of Yes – 223
Today’s been one of those days where I find myself context switching often. Major presentations at work, setting up tree people to come look at my fence, sitting on a work panel, setting up PCR tests for my kids so they can go back to school, packing, downloading data for my husband for an ML project at work, scoring my son’s test results, and 1-1 career conversions and more within an 8-hour window. It’s a lot. And it’s the fullness of life. I am grateful to have this richness even if it’s hard sometimes. Yes to it all. #yearofyes #karenikayearofyes  Year of Yes – 222 Sometimes a change of perspective and a change of scenery is what’s needed. Yes to action over inaction. #yearofyes #karenikayearofyes  Year of Yes – 221
Too tired for words today. Resting and letting things be instead. Yes to rest #yearofyes #karenikayearofyes 
 Year of Yes – 220
I’m reading an ARC (advanced copy) which is a novel based on Thomas Mann’s life. I have never read “The Magic Mountain” or any of Mann’s novels and I am finding this book fascinating. People are fascinating. The choices we make, the stories we tell ourselves, the secret lives we lead. Earlier today I was listening to a podcast where the speakers are trying to talk about topics we don’t openly share. The topics themselves are innocuous but the way we talk about them is the same way we respond to “Hi, how are you?” when a friend passes you by on the street. We don’t tell them the truth. Because the truth is that life is messy and people are complicated. And things that involve people are also complicated. Any time people, books, movies share the true, messier nature of humans, I find myself deeply engaged. True connection can only emerge from being able to see each other as we are and accepting each other as we are. And I find the complexity of human nature to be deeply curious. The more I see, the more I want to learn. Because we are messy, imperfect and marvelous in our uniqueness. Yes to the mess of it all and yes to those brave enough to live and speak truths so that the rest of us can feel less alone. #yearofyes #karenikayearofyes 
3.5 stars well this was a wild ride. None of the characters in this book were likable in my opinion. So many of them were self-centered and narcissistic and trying to get revenge from each other or stab each other in the back. And yet it was an accident you couldn’t look away from. I could not put it down and yet when I finished it I was annoyed at myself for spending my whole day reading it.
I really loved the way this author wove her sad story with chronic pain into this beautiful book with charts and graphs and art. Even though the charts were humorous and light, the message of the book is anything but. The suffering is palpable and made me feel so much empathy for the author and I really admired her skill of being able to balance the light and heavy. I really loved the combination of the visuals and the text. with gratitude to edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Fresh Paint is a wonderfully inspiring book by Flora Bowley & Lynzee Lynx based on a workshop the two have created online. The book is a journey to discovering your own style through creating 100 small art pieces. As you embark on the journey they give you different perspectives and ways of approaching the journey. There’s a short section on supplies but unlike many other books, the encouragement is to use your own stash and even experiment with unusual ways to make marks like vegetables, etc. There’s a lot of encouragement in this book to spend time exploring your world, your roots, your own natural way of being and adding joy to the process of creating. They take both an outside in and an inside out perspective to discovery and research. The two authors have differing styles and so do many of the students whose work they share in each chapter to give you a wide range of examples and possibilities. I am confident that if you worked with this book’s kind, generous and joyful guidance and spent time creating the 100 pieces of art that you would be well on your way to finding your own unique creative style. with gratitude to edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars rounded up In my opinion, this book’s audience is a beginner crafter who loves gold and glam. The first half of the book has several projects that are really, really simple and also look elegant. Then there are some coloring pages and finally some collage/template pages at the end. If you’re brand new to most of this and the authors’ style really resonates with you I think you will enjoy the projects and really appreciate the beginning section with an explanation of a wide range of supplies. If you are a crafter already, I don’t think this book has much to offer you. For me, there was nothing new here at all. I still enjoyed looking through it but didn’t learn anything. with gratitude to edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I loved and adored Anne Griffin’s previous novel: When All Is Said. It was absolutely magnificent. So I couldn’t wait to read this one. This is the story of Jeanie Masterson who, with her family, runs an undertaking business. But they are no ordinary undertakers. Jeanie and her dad can hear the dead. They can speak to the dead briefly after they pass. And they’ve been doing so forever. Jeanie’s life looks lovely on the surface: she is married to a kind man and they both work for the family business and live with her parents and brother. But as the story unravels, the reader gets to see the choices she made along the way and the ways in which everyone in the story feels trapped in their own life in small and big ways. This is a story about how we give up pieces of our lives and dreams when we feel like we have obligations to the world or to our family. Or when we’re too scared to take big, bold steps in our lives. And how living with regret can be so much harder, so much more damaging and harmful. It’s about owning up to the choices we made and taking ownership of the life we choose to design for ourselves. It’s a quiet story that can feel whiny or slow at parts but I think that’s also reflective of how hard and arduous the path back to oneself can be at times. with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. |
|
|
|
Copyright © 2024 karenika - All Rights Reserved Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
||
