It’s Thursday and I’m glad. I’ll be more glad tomorrow when it’s Friday, but today I’ll take Thursday. And to celebrate that, I’m sharing 3 things from my week as part of #3ThingsThursday hosted by Pink Chai Living, Love Laugh Mirch and The Write Balance. If you’re a blogger and want to link up, just visit one of their sites and add your link!
One: My new favourite writer
Last month, my youngest and I left the chiropractor’s office and on a whim stopped in at the library. I didn’t have a book going at that moment and it was the perfect opportunity to grab a new read. I have a list of books that I intend to read but it was at home so, even though it bothered me like an itchy sweater, I decided to be spontaneous in my book search. Walking up and down aisles of books with an almost-two-year-old is a bit of a challenge; I knew I had to be quick. In the end, I came out with two books, both of which I ended up loving. But this one book, which I just finished yesterday, introduced me to a writer I am now adding to my list of faves.
The Stylist by Cai Emmons is richly written; the story line is unique for sure, but her language is what blew me away. One of the best ways to make writing come alive is to use personification. This makes inanimate objects life-like by attributing them human qualities. Cai Emmons nails this literary device. Like, NAILS it! In fact, I want to re-read the book just so I can find all the passages I love and highlight them. (I’ll buy my own copy first.) Yesterday, my oldest and I were reading together and at one point I made her stop reading so I could share the author’s depiction of the rain during a tropical storm. It was a beautiful moment because my daughter is learning about personification in school. We were both excited to find such a great example. There was gleeful hugging involved.
The book also has an interview in the back and some notes from the author that is definitely worth a read. I’m going to grab everything by this talented woman I can.
Two: Hiding my phone
So, it’s come to my realization that when I hide my phone during work times…I get SO MUCH MORE DONE. I don’t now if your phone does this, but my phone tricks me. It makes me feel like I am getting a lot accomplished when I’m on it (because I’m reading and communicating and connecting)…until the end of the day when I realize I haven’t done any of the things I really needed to, or even wanted to. This week I have made a conscious effort to put my phone away during my work time. I was pretty impressed with what I accomplished. Not only did I get my blogs written (did you notice, this is my 4th post this week?), appointments booked, and social media posts scheduled – I even had time to practice my piano! For a full 30 minutes! Needless to say, I think I should continue with this habit. I do have other times when I can text my loved ones or spontaneous moments when I post on social media, but I find that carving out phone-free work time really helped me.
And I need my off-line leisure time. I need to read books. I need to play the piano. I need to write poems. I need to art journal. It fuels me so much. Here’s what I worked on this week. I’m sharing this fully-aware of the botched timings and wrong notes. It’s not perfect, but I really don’t mind sharing it!
Three: Is it Christmas break yet?
This time of year, as it gets a little frosty, the days get shorter and the house seems that much more cozy, I get antsy for Christmas break! (Four weeks left.) Fireplace, movies, popcorn, lit-up tree, pyjamas, family, board games, books, dinners…
And that’s all I have to say about that!
What’s going on in your world this week? I’d love to hear in the comments!
