Forgotten crocuses are popping out through the patchy grasses in my neighbors yard. Daylight is longer and as of this Sunday, even moreso. My dog looks at me with visceral disdain when I go for walks without him now—his shorn coat no longer holding him back from the cold when he sees the sun in the middle of blue sky. He is determined.
I get it.
February was the month of determination for me. I had several things to tick off my personal to-do list and much of it I got to-done. A feat for a chronic procrastinating over-thinker, but when push comes to shove, I can get it done.
And now? I am happy to report that I am somewhat aimless again as I look around my little house and think what actually is the next right thing because boy howdy is this upcoming summer for my little family going to be busy.
So as I learn to steward my time here’s what’s resonating with me now:
…
FOCUS:
It’s not so much as what needs to get done as it is not overloading myself. Can I get a hearty Amen on this? I have committed to things I am excited about and am now needing to be critical about what I take on from here on out. It’s now also time to say thank you, no thank you to the tertiary. I just have to discern what those things are. My priorities remain the same: my family’s health comes first, so through that lens, I am hoping I will be able to schedule and plan what is truly important and let other things drop off the calendar.
READING:
I finished Commonwealth by Ann Patchett and really loved how everything tied together. It’s the story of a blended family and it’s just so damn honest. Patchett does honestly really, really well. Romantasy be damned all day when I can read books about real people living real lives with real hurts and real emotions. But that’s my personal taste.
This morning I finished Ruth by Kate Riley that follows the titular character’s life in a Hutterite community. It was a Washington Post top 10 books of 2025 and ok, fine, whatever, but this is not a book I think I can recommend across the board. Is the prose lovely, albeit somewhat pedantic? Yup. Is there a major plot we are asked to follow with bated breathe throughout the book? Nada. This is a real “fly on the wall” kind of novel where we, the reader, are mere observers of a life lived from infancy to Ruth’s mid-50’s. The undertones of the author saying doesn’t this lifestyle seem oppressive? were fairly evident to me, though not always obvious. But being a fly on the wall of several Dorfs throughout Ruth’s life while she was told how to live and love was interesting, but bless her, she seemed often bored—which made me bored. But do your own research. It is certainly well written and perhaps I am just a curmudgeon.
Happily I can now focus more attention on Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow and thus far I am loving it. Much like Riley’s Ruth, not much happens. But the people of Port William and the surrounding area are so endearing that I don’t care (perhaps this is another strike against Ruth? Guys, I tried, I really did). These simple Kentuckian lives are worth watching in all their ordinary, beautiful moments and I don’t want to look away.
On an interlibrary loan I received Wild, Beautiful, and Free by Sophfronia Scott and it’s a page turner. Imagine Jane Eyre in pre-civil war American where heroine Jane is a mixed race girl sold into slavery after her loving, landowning father dies and her jealous stepmother does her worst. I am loving it, but there’s a lot of book left, so time will tell.
BEAUTY:
This past week I laughed with a friend as we threw a weighted ball between us while balancing on bosu balls at the local YMCA. Just a couple of 40 year old women fighting the loss of bone density together. A day before that I sat with another friend as we talked strategy for a future event and allowed our conversation to stray a bit deeper. There were tears and vulnerabilities and it was beautiful.
Friendship in midlife is both tricky and worth fighting for because it is so so good.
Iron and Wine dropped a new album and like the good millennial enneagram four that I am, the album is on repeat. Track nine’s Dates and Dead People is an existential folk bop. Listen to it in your car with your sunroof open—this track needs air.
GOOD WORDS:
I was reminded of a quote my husband told me years ago in what would be the beginning of a lifelong trough turned beautiful. In fact, it was such beautiful sentiment I had him repeat it, write it down, and put it on our refrigerator. We’ve moved four times and this slip of paper remains a keepsake. For the sake of mystery, I will not give context to his quote and hopefully it will still minister to you the way it continues to work on me 11 years later:
When I think of limitations, I think of poetry. You have to say more with fewer words.
So let’s talk.
What matters for you now?
What are you reading?
What’s beautiful in your life?
Drop some good words below.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.