End of April | 2024
A roundup of mundane magic, links I loved, and books I finished this month
**Hi friends! If you're reading this in the email, it might cut off due to length. Viewing in the browser or on the app can fix this.
Today's post has a quick intro, followed by the end-of-the-month roundup of mundane magic moments, links I loved, and books I finished. The sections are clearly marked, so feel free to jump ahead.
This month was kind of a lot.
It felt long, but also I can't believe it's already over. And it felt so busy, even though I don't feel like I did all that much.
I've had some ups and downs with new medications, and I'm trying to figure all of that out.
My reading has still been a bit slow, but I've got a few finished books and a handful of links to share, along with my mundane magics for the month.
Allons-y!1
✨️ Mundane Magics ✨️
Yarn mail from arrived early this month! I bought one of her beautiful sock sets and I'm looking forward to knitting my first set of socks sometime soon.
Baby knitting. My husband's coworker is fostering a baby, and he asked if I'd like to make something to give her - I already had a pattern and colour scheme in mind, and I love baby knits. It's going slow because my wrists have been sore, but I find tiny knits like this so satisfying.
Seeing the total solar eclipse. It was a really hard day for me, but the actual event and spending time together was wonderful.
More chickens!
Having the windows open. A literal breath of fresh air.
Three blissful days of medicated productivity (before I crashed and had to rest for two weeks lol). Obviously overdoing it was not ideal, but feeling capable and clear-headed was amazing, and I am hopeful.
Watching Doctor Who again with my husband. We stalled out within the first few episodes of Capaldi's Doctor on our first watch through, and then it wasn't on any of the platforms we used forever. It's been really nice going back through from Christopher Eccleston's Doctor (we tried classic Who and found it boring) again. We're currently on Matt Smith's seasons and should have finished rewatching my favourite episode (Vincent and the Doctor) by the time you're reading this.
Links I Loved
Dear tired, burnt out mother by
is a beautiful offering:
Your desire to be free is as real and as deep as your love for the beings you have created. It’s existence means nothing of your love for them. We need to have a purpose in this world and very few of us can find that in the monotonous task of nappies and snack time and sleepless nights.
This reading of Jane Eyre from an autistic perspective (a guest post on
by ) is everything I didn't know I needed - I know most of you probably don't know this, but my first tattoo was a quote from Jane Eyre, for my wedding:
She epitomizes something special, something troubling, something eternally resonant about how it feels to be a neurodivergent person socialized female and shaped by religion, whose primary special interest is being very good.
I loved this post about Crow's feet and chemicals by
:
Words build our reality. We should pay attention to the things we’re given words for – and the things we are not.
Once again,
has written exactly what I needed to hear:
If you find yourself in this growing edge of learning to stay in your adult self, of becoming the one who nurtures even when you haven’t always been nurtured in ways you’ve needed, of looking out at the world and asking what we could be doing differently, of leading with compassion when leading with rage feels easier… know you aren’t alone. Know your trying matters.
And finally, it's almost time for ’s poem a day in the month of May! Now that I've participated twice, I found myself thinking about this all year (it would have been a much harder wait without
’s 100 Poems). This year's theme is “words are hope” and I can't wait.
Books I Finished
This American Ex-wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life by Lyz Lenz: I've been seeing a lot about this book here on Substack, including some great interviews, and it definitely didn't disappoint. I think that the larger issues Lenz discusses are relevant for all of us; you don't need to be divorced to enjoy it.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle: I'm suddenly realizing I've been reading (comparatively) a lot of books about divorce the last couple months? But this book is also about so much more than that. I'm late to the party on this one because when it first came out, I was pregnant with my youngest and in the process of moving house, and I lost my copy in the move before I got to finish. It's as beautiful as I remembered.
The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center by Rhaina Cohen: I definitely saw this somewhere here on Substack as well and immediately borrowed it from the library. I really love the overarching message of this book, and that the author provides a variety of scenarios/examples.
I hope that if your April was full of (literal or figurative) showers, your May will be full of flowers. You're always welcome to leave your thoughts in the comments. And as always, feel free to share if this resonated with you!
Doctor Who fans will probably already know this, but it's French for “let's go!"
The chickens! The baby outfit! The pictures of the littles! The tattoo! All are perfection! I am having such a hard time keeping up with the poetry and the reading between Lisa's 100 Poems and Kaitlin's May Poetry. You would think I would have all the time in this season of unemployment but alas!
Love your chickens and the baby knit - so cute! Yes, I too am looking forward to Kaitlin's poetry month too!