karenika

Reflecting – June

June was supposed to be the major month I planned to rest before going back to work early July. It was mostly restful but started with a lot of appointments I hadn’t planned on to ensure things were moving forward.

This months intention was to Practice Joy: Breathe in the fresh air. Summer is here. Smell the water. Go outside. Sit in the sunshine. One more school year is over. Celebrate your life.

I’ve been resting and enjoying the summer. It’s been pretty hot here so I haven’t enjoyed the fresh air as much as I would have liked to. I will spend more time on that in July. Definitely didn’t get to go to the water either. It was a good month.

Here are some goals I had for June:

I continued to paint daily, I did a lot of this and feel pretty proud of my progress
I ate a salad almost every day
did almost all of HCOTF
supported the kids with all of the end of year activities
Read a lot – i read over 50 books
Supported J
took Liz’s 5 things class and several skill share classes
continued medication
helping D and N with their summer journeys
journaled but not until the very end of the month
Did a week in the life!
Continued documenting the joy
Loved my people
Scrapped and did OLW
I did go outdoors and sit outside in the sunshine but not as much as i could have
Did not dive deeper into ease, release, equanimity, space, possibility and see what you might want to do for each.
Did not figure out linode stuff for email.
Have been working on a daily practice of giving yourself grace
Have been ok with not getting much done, rest.
Have been trying to be in the present moment, and not count down the days

June was much better than May, still started a bit more hectic than I would have liked but by the end of the month I finally started to feel like I was really starting to slow down. I feel spacious and more rested.

I will continue to try take it each one day at a time and look for the joy again and again. Because I know that I already have all I need and want. Everything else is bonus.

Here’s to hoping July is full of joy.

Review: All My Puny Sorrows

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was sad. Too sad. I put off reading it for a few days and then dove in and I am not sure I should have. It’s about two sisters. The main character’s sister keeps trying to die and she keeps trying to stop her. It’s hard reading.

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Review: All My Puny Sorrows

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Review: Everything for You

Everything for You by Chloe Liese
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chloe Liese’s books are full of textured and real characters who care deeply, manage to surprise you and worm their way into your heart. This one was no exception even though I do think some bits were wordier than needed.

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Review: Twice in a Lifetime

Twice in a Lifetime by Melissa Baron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I really dislike it when book blurbs mention well-loved, well-read books in order to get you to buy a book. I feel like it pre-biases the story. I understand why they do it (it’s a quick way to tell if this book is your cup of tea) but the thing is, there’s so much more to a book than it’s plot. Every book about time travel and love is not the same. Every book that happens non-linearly is also not the same.

For me, what matters most when I compare books is how they made me feel. How were the characters developed. Did the love feel the way it feels in a different book? Did you find yourself cheering for them in the same way, did you find yourself mourning the same way? When you compare it to another book on some of the plot elements alone, you’re losing me before I even read your book because what if the feeling is different (but also lovely?) Now I don’t like this book because you promised me something and delivered me something else. And that’s a shame.

All of this is to say that I don’t think this book felt like “Time Traveler’s Wife” or “Oona Out of Order” for me. It was quieter than both and yet it still was a lovely book on its own. For me, the biggest element of this book was not the time travel or the love between the two characters, it was the mental health and anxiety that the main character was grappling with and how she got in her own way so often and made her own life harder than it had to be. Her growth in this story, and her ability to both trust herself, trust her strength and put herself forth is the best part of the story in my opinion.

This is the story about a woman who meets her future husband by way of a magical phone text exchange. I didn’t really care about the logistics of time travel as some might have, it’s so not the point of the story. I loved both of the characters but I did think the story lacked a bit of texture and depth. I wanted to understand more about why her dad was the way he was. Ewan seemed too nice and perfect almost. I wanted to know more about him, too. I loved the premise of the story and how the character changed multiple times as a result of what she knew.

All this is to say, I really enjoyed my time with this story and the characters and the story drew me in. I look forward to reading more of this author.

With gratitude to netgalley and Alcove Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Daily Joys – 180

Daily Joys – 180

Back again. Grateful.

Daily Joys – 179

Daily Joys – 179

The most joy seems to be in the smallest moments. The quiet of the wind blowing while I lie on the swing with fresh fruit and a good book.

Review: The Measure

The Measure by Nikki Erlick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When the library emailed me saying this book was ready, I put the book I was listening to on hold to switch to this one because I’d been waiting for it for so long and I wanted to see if it was as good as I’d hoped it would be.

I think the book was beautifully written. The premise is interesting and could have been taking ten different ways and could have been executed in ways that fell short. But this author focused on how the value of a human life is not about its length. It reminded me of the quote by Diane Ackerman “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

It’s not just the length that matters even though we tend to focus on that more than anything else.

The book also is about human connection and how our lives intersect and have a way of intermingling. How people can rely on each other. How there’s always people who bond through adversity and those who use fear to take advantage of the situation for their own gain/power.

It was quite the read.

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Review: The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For reasons unclear to me, it took me a long time to read this book. I checked it out of the library over twenty times before I finally sat down to read it. I tried listening on audio and decided it was never going to work out, so I read the book and I am glad I did. It was beautifully written and what a journey to read. Madeline Miller is a talented writer and it absolutely shows in this beautifully told story of Achilles and the Odyssey.

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Daily Joys – 178

The Daily Joys – 178

White birds in the sky, sparkling. So grateful for the ordinary today.

Review: The Sea of Tranquility

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

I haven’t read YA in a long time but this was a fast and involving read. So much angst. Drew was my favorite character. He surprised you. He grew. He was funny.

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