End of February | 2024
A roundup of mundane magic, links I loved, and books I finished this month
Today's post has a very short reflection, 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.
I am feeling good again - physically and mentally - for the first time in a while, but I'm also finding that I don't have much to share here this week.
I've been feeling a lot of that vibrant spring energy; we've been deep cleaning the house, I've been cooking a bit again, I started a new knitting project, and my husband and I have been making plans for the house and finding more ways to connect. I've even been writing poetry pretty consistently.
But I've been finding it easy to direct my energy to those things, whereas reading, writing an essay, and compiling links (while I am also very behind on my Substack reading) feels more difficult.
So, instead of pushing, I'm going to let this be what it is, and invite you to do the same.
Wherever and however you can, I invite you to follow the flow. Fill your cup, and pour back into what feels right for you for now.
The rest will come when it's ready.
✨️ Mundane Magics ✨️
A sunrise with the softest raspberry and peachy pink sky. I didn't get a picture, just basked in it.
Sybil waking up and seeing snow onValentines day and saying "it's Christmas Valentines day!" I don't know why this delighted me so much, but I loved it.
Also on Valentines day, it was snowing lightly and also a bit windy, so it almost looked like the snowflakes were dancing or traveling upward instead. It felt so magical.
Pre-k family day at my daughter's school; this is the first family day that we were all able to go because for the last two, one or more of us were always sick. My mom was able to come as well, so Sybi had a really wonderful time.
Watching the new Avatar: The Last Airbender with my husband. Jon and I both love the original series and we've been really enjoying this together.
I started a new knitting project. This is my first shawl, as well as my first brioche project, and I'm deeply enjoying it. I have been making use of lifelines, however, because I am not familiar enough with brioche knitting to be able to fix my mistakes the way I can with regular stockinette, which means ripping back an entire section if I mess up - I'm hoping by the end I'll be able to identify and fix those mistakes with far less frogging.
Three glorious days in a row of having the house to myself for at least a couple of hours at a time. It's impossible to understate how good this was for me. It's the reason my mental and physical health have improved so drastically so quickly, and I'm so grateful.
Waking up before my alarm, getting out of bed in a quiet house, and spending a little time outside before anyone else got up. It has been a while since I've been rested enough to wake up before my alarm and before either of the kids, which means my mornings have been less than peaceful, so having moments like this feels really special.
A last-minute invite to a paint-and-trivia for The Office. My friend and I were Team Meredith your boob is out. We didn't win, and it was really fun. I stayed up way past my bedtime and the fact that I was able to do that felt great.
Links I Loved
- wrote a piece for Valentine's day that's related to autism and how evangelicalism impacts relationships and identity, which I definitely identified with:
That might feel like a lot of change for outside observers, but for me it just feels like making peace with what was already happening in my inner world. Now that I have better terms for what I have experienced my entire life, there is so much less shame and judgment (for myself, and towards other people).
D. L. also shared this one with a bunch of somatic practice resources.
This essay about Pain from
also felt very relevant for me:
And what this injury was teaching me was to not bend, not to stretch out even a little more, simply to break - to acknowledge the pain truly fully and wholly. I learnt that it was my validating eyes that I craved too - to confirm my experience - the pain was real.
Books I Finished
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: I really enjoyed this one. It's quite different from the ACOTAR series, and I think I prefer the main character of this one in many ways, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. If you're a fan of fantasy and romance, it's worth checking out.
Falling Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix: This is a recent sequel to a book written about 20 years ago, Running Out of Time, which I loved as a kid and have reread multiple times. I have quibbles about some of it - I wouldn't say it's perfect - but I enjoyed the premise and seeing how the author felt the story would progress. I likely won't reread the sequel, because it just doesn't have the same nostalgia for me as the first book, but I'm glad I gave it a shot.
What's filling your cup lately? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. And as always, feel free to share if this resonated with you!
Thank you for sharing all that's filling your cup. I finally wound down my job last week and am now gainfully unemployed so I hope I can use this time to get myself together a bit! I don't knit but I do crochet on a very basic level....I also cross stitch but with my most recent endeavor there is a lot of detail and I haven't had the attention span for it lately.
"Christmas Valentine's Day"...this made *my* day today 🥰. Glad you're feeling better!