What I'm Loving Lately
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
Lore Ferguson has her “Link Love,” Jen Pollack Michel has her “What’s Working for Me” posts, and I have noticed I tend to click through these posts and notes with links to things the author finds valuable more than I sit to read a longer post. I don’t know if this is due to my tendency to butterfly my attention, landing lightly here and there for brief sips of nectar, or if it’s the reality of my limited time focusing my attention on what might be immediately useful. I don’t think I need to get over-analytical about it today, but that’s my inspiration for sharing some links with you. You get to decide whether it’s helpful or distracting.
Things I’m loving lately:
Katelyn Beaty and Roxie Stone’s podcast Saved by the City:
As single career women in NYC, these gals have lived a very different life than I have, but their banter is fun and their examination of church and cultural trends, especially as they have affected women, is something that resonates with me.
These large white salad bowls from Walmart:
We eat a lot of salads. My husband has some heart problems, and the Mediterranean Diet is apparently the best one for someone who is concerned about heart health. These bowls are large enough to hold a generous amount of greens and sundry veggies topped with a healthy protein. Chicken or salmon are our go-tos, with a couple of spoonfuls of black beans to add some more fiber. When you get old, you think a lot about fiber.
Speaking of salads and the Mediterranean Diet, olive oil is also a staple in our diet now, and I found a Dijon Vinaigrette salad dressing recipe I love that is easy to quickly make as cooking is not my favorite thing (it takes too much time away from reading!) I put the ingredients in a mason jar and use a handheld blender to whip them up into a light and tasty addition to our salads.
The public library is my happy place. I have a special corner by a window where I sit to read and write and reflect. I have been visiting there regularly for several months after not going for many years, since my kids were younger. It’s changed a lot! I love the way I can keep track of what I’ve checked out online, or easily search for books from home and request them to be put on hold, getting a magical notification when it’s waiting for me to pick up. Where we live we also have Zip Books–I can ask the library to buy a book I want that is not in the catalog, have it shipped to me from Amazon, and then return it to be put into circulation for others to enjoy. My library also participates in Hoopla (ebooks) and Libby (audiobooks).
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer is a book I didn’t get from the library, but it’s challenging me to rein in those butterfly tendencies and pay more attention to my spiritual formation. It’s packed with inspiration and practical ideas about addressing your interior life, connecting how this affects your external habits. If you’ve wondered about the concept of creating a Rule of Life, this book explains it well. I really appreciate that Comer also integrates psychological research with his encouragement to develop healthy habits of faith. I’ve provided a link to a place you can purchase it, but it’s available lots of places, even Target…and I just looked and found it’s even available in my library system, so maybe you can find it at your library, too!
And to complete the circle, here’s another podcast about books that I have been obsessed with lately, What Should I Read Next? with Anne Bogel of The Modern Mrs. Darcy. It’s a helpful source of ideas for fiction I might want to try, as I have been heavy on non-fiction for a long time, especially psychology books. I’m trying to convince myself that it’s not a waste of time (it isn’t…something I readily tell others) to get lost in a story rather than read something for utilitarian reasons. This is part of my spiritual formation and Rule of Life.
Let me know what you are reading (especially good fiction!) and listening to, or loving lately, though I may be asking you to enable my tendency toward distraction. What the heck, it’s almost spring. So many flowers, so little time!
Austerlitz by sebald. Its wonderful.