books, plants, early mornings before autumn & reading superiority

messy and slow mornings

This time of year pulls at the heart to slow down, and pulls at me to re-read my favorites. I've been finding myself rewatching my favorite book/movie adaptations and drinking extra hot beverages although the temp is regularly 88+.

Sacrilegious temperatures aside, I've noted a trend happening online. So many judgmental videos being made about what/how other people read. I guess it's a product of what I call our "comparison culture", but it's gross all the same.

It should be perfectly okay whether someone binges audiobooks at 10x speed, or reads ONE Dostoevsky novel per season. This "right/wrong" dichotomy in the reading community is just gross. 

Treating reading an exercise in superiority is truly wild. We are all on ONE team. Team Read More Books and keep libraries alive.

It shouldn't matter what you read nor how often.

It shouldn't matter if you vlog, blog, photograph it or not.

It doesn't matter if you track it online or in a physical notebook like I do. 

There's truly enough division in the world without adding the division in the bookish community to that list. 

Although I'm writing about it here, I stay far far far away from debates on line with strangers. It's futile, useless, and not good a job way to spend my energy or time. But, I wanted to use my small, quiet space to remind anyone (if you even need reminding) that you're doing fine in your reading life.

Living great books is far better than bragging about them or using what you've read to compare to other people. 

I live myself between the chapters of great and moving novels. I literally can remember what was going on in my life based off of what I was reading during certain periods. This means that I don't have time to worry about what others think of how or why I read.

There are periods when I downloaded 4 cozy mystery audiobooks from the library to get through a weekend of intense. These books "kept me company" so to speak and I regret nothing! Sure, I can't remember all the characters or the real point, but who cares? I was entertained and accompanied for long hours in my storage unit reorganizing holiday decor.

Other times, I am hunkered down on my couch (customary) with a necklight (always ) while reading and re-reading passages from Brookner novels. Or more likely, I have a stack of 10-12 books at my bedside and I read a few pages from each. Who is going to tell me I'm wrong to read this way? And even if I did, I'll ignore them and my advice is that you ignore them too.

Consuming so much content about what others think, and how others do things, has gone way too far. It embeds tiny little fragments of how things are supposed  to be done inside of our heads and before long we are defending things that don't need to be defended, or participating in discussions about how others are doing things "incorrectly"

All of this to say, let your reading be a free liminal space.

Allow your reading life to be dictated by your current circumstances and to whatever is actually calling to you during this phase of your life.

The only thing that matters is that you feel called back to the page.

I'm rooting for you that your reading life will be what shapes your heart and calls to your soul.

I know mine is.

Happy reading ☕️ 

 

let september find me reading and resting

my autumn desktop

In an effort to consciously eliminate all pressure and stress from my life, I don't give myself lists of books I have to read, nor force myself to participate in any readathons/groups that don't really call to my soul. 

With that in mind, the end of the year is approaching. I don't ever have any set number of books to read for the year, or book goals, or anything like that. Reading is truly a wellness activity for me. It's less about what and how much I read, and more about making the time to read and how I feel when I read, reflect, and write about what I read.

Autumn is the second January.

A time that feels like a fresh start and a new beginning.

Personal curriculums are all the rage right now, and I am a huge fan of them. I do love formal education and spaces to share ideas with others and be strengthened and challenged, but making sure to stay focuse don what you most want to focus on is critical

In our idea consumption culture it's easy find yourself doing things without any reflection time on whether you actually want to do it or not. Do you really want to read the entire Booker Longlist, or does it seem popular and like what literary readers do? Do you really like following Fall readathons, or have you always wanted to read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre in the Fall?

My nudge is only for you to slow down, reflect, and decide what would make you the most satisfied come the end of the year.

i love this cover

For me, it's finding time to re-read Sense and Sensibility seeing as the new screen adaptation is coming out October 16... adding a 1/2 re-reading of Jane Eyre, a re-reading of something by Hardy (yet to decide) poetry by Hardy, reading more of the Letters of Gustave Flaubert, of course Anita Brookner, and so much more.

• Sense and Sensiblity
• Jane Eyre
• A Hardy novel
• Letters of Gustave Flaubert
• Proust

vegan gluten free sweet potato brownies

Of course for me Autumn means even more baking. New recipes that I create or mix-n-match that I find online. The scent of cinnamon in the air signifies extra cups of coffee and lots of slow living.

As I walk through towards the end of the first week of September, I'm taking with me a few things: my continued anti-AI stance, even if means I'm "left behind", a love of re-reading, a desire to work through a few of the unread books on my shelves, a new semester, and a true belief that reading, writing, and learning is the secret magic of a good life.

I hope you'll join me on a slow and easy September. Happy reading ☕️ 

documentary: mary oliver: saved by the beauty of the world (pbs-free)

 

pbs documentary 

Watch the documentary for free at PBS's website by clicking here

It's no secret that I adore Mary Oliver's poetry. I've featured her in multiple poetry pause posts. And, Mary does just that with her poetry- asks us to pause and look at what most of us take for granted- the magic that can be found in the natural world. 

I'm writing this post before watching the documentary, but I will surely write another post giving my review of it. 

I am always so fascinated about the life behind writers, poets, and artists, and I feel I can count on PBS to do a thorough and affecting job.

Here's The Poetry Foundation's page on Mary Oliver. It's lovely.

@The Poetry Foundation website

I truly believe that poetry is "the possibility of language". We can all benefit from slowing down- and then slowing down some more. Poetry demands that of us. 

It calls to the soul to feel into what the poet has used language to convey and to find yourself within the stanzas.

I'm off to watch this on a slow Sunday. Today I'll be staying in my pajamas later than normal, having a second up of organic single origin pour over with oatmilk (living on the edge with the oatmilk- I normally drink it black), and sinking down into Mary's life. 

Wishing you a peace-filled, slow, and easy Sunday. Happy reading ☕️