I think so many people across God's green earth would agree with the sentiment of "Good riddance, 2020." "Peace out." "Fuck off." "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Twenty-twenty was a year. And damn, does it feel good to be about three weeks away from it, to have 2020 growing smaller … Continue reading “Good riddance, 2020.”
Goodreads review of Cal Newport's Deep Work here. Spend enough time in a state of frenetic shallowness and you permanently reduce your capacity to perform deep work.Cal Newport This quote in and of itself is quite alarmist, and the reason I re-read this book. I had read it previously in 2017, surprisingly long ago. I … Continue reading Thoughts on a second read-through of “Deep Work”
Since I have come back to one of my favorite hobbies, reading, I have made some observations about how I enter into and sustain a conversation. I don't mean a conversation with one person, like a phone call, but instead a large multi-faceted conversation that occurs with the written word. I love how books delve … Continue reading Slow conversations
Why is it that my heartrate increases and my breathing become jagged when I come across evidence of a previous version of myself -- that is, the one that wholeheartedly committed to the Pentecostal evangelical way of doing faith? I feel so many things when I hear the jargon, see smiling people worshipping together, come … Continue reading The clouded lens of faith
I look at houses online, a lot. Maybe too much. Sometimes I look at houses in my neighborhood, sometimes in my hometown. Sometimes I look at houses in places I've lived before. I pore over lot size and price per square foot and judge the lighting or staging I see. But mostly I imagine what … Continue reading Spending time with Past, Present, and Future (no, this isn’t my version of A Christmas Carol)
Let me start by saying, Wow. I was blown away by this book by Sue Monk Kidd, who also wrote the best-selling Secret Life of Bees (which I have not read). The Book of Longings was really a book I have needed in my life for a long time, though it was just released. It … Continue reading Religion & faith in context: The Book of Longings
If 2020 has taught me anything, it's that we humans make life so much more complicated and difficult than it needs to be. Is there anything more basic to life than waking up with the sun, eating, and observing life around us? As I write this, I'm taking advantage of (probably) seasonal spring-ish weather in … Continue reading Simple life in 2021
In January, I wrote this post about saying no, my theme for this year. It came off the coattails of the Year of Being Honest. I haven't picked a personal theme for 2021 yet, but thought I would recap and expound on the list of things I wanted to do for 2020. Reading. Lots and … Continue reading Recap of “2020 – The Year of Saying No”
Here we are, another day, another post about reading. I've never really regularly written about my reading... ever. I think when I was younger, I was so unsure of myself as a reader, and trying to pretend I loved reading when it was all I could do to pay attention, read the Cliff Notes (for … Continue reading Reading Goals and Contemplations for 2021
We are approaching the longest night and shortest day of the year. I always focus on the night part. https://www.goodfon.com/wallpaper/laplandiya-finlyandiya-zima-sneg-5978.html Winter twilight produces some of the weirdest light. Night comes on fast, especially if it's a day like today where skies have been gray and heavy with frozen precipitation. At one point, there is still … Continue reading Twilight as liminal space
MPM 2.0: mercy unmasked 