Rebecca, hi. I'm all about your junk drawer analogy. Absolutely. And yes, let's hear it for Sabbath afternoons at the beach. And one more thing ... where did you find your lovely branch drawings between subjects? This Substack newbie has been looking for something like this.
Thanks Linda! I can't remember if I got it from The Noun Project or Canva, but it was definitely free. It definitely makes the whole thing feel a little more polished. Hope you find something fun!
I'm retired and the odd thing is (b/c my husband is also retired) finding a l o n e time to concentrate on my work has been a challenge. I'm becoming more intentional about it, though. Your Voxer/Slack group idea sounds wonderful--reminds me of Tolkein's mention of the need for 'resonators'--folks like The Inklings who can read and respond to each others' work. I have an online poetry group going around the poems in my book and it's generated some poetry drafts as well--super fun!
Do you have any weekly rhythms that help you rest? No, my life is too random. I pause and breathe deeply with feet planted firmly in one place to make myself slow down...
What are you reading right now?
Poetry--David's Crown by Malcolm Guite, C.S. Lewis Poems and a Madeleine L'Engle collection
Fiction--The Castle on the Hill, Elizabeth Goudge
Non-Fiction--Lifting the Veil-Imagination and the Kingdom of God, Malcolm Guite
(p.s. I've read all Ruth Reichl's books....had the privilege of meeting her several years ago. What a writer! My daughter gave me her cookbook "My Kitchen Year" written after she got sacked from Gourmet. Delightful read!
What are you cooking?
Just made pot roast last night but my newest venture is into the world of sourdough. I bought a cast iron pot and the whole deal, but goodness--it's a whole thing...
Thanks for asking, Becca--waving hello from Seattle, WA.
Thanks Jody! Genuinely fascinating that it is still hard to rest even in in your season! Impressed that you are reading six books and making sourdough. I made bread for a while but I never braved sourdough! Good luck!
Funnily enough, the time I spend rocking my baby to sleep in a dark room is the time I get the most ideas! I've never ever written poetry but bc of all the awesome poetry I read here I have written two in my head while rocking and then as soon as he was asleep in bed, rushed out to write them down 😂 I've been listening to a lot less podcasts and audio books which frees up my mind too.
I've been reading lord of the rings, but also the Thursday murder club series and another fun mystery series by Kate saunders.
And tonight we had roasted potato salad, sausages and steak and tomorrow is recipetineats roast chicken which is honestly the best chicken I've ever made and eaten 🙌🏻
And get that sleep while you need it! The time will come when you don't need it as much and you can find rest by doing something creative! Or just catching up on the to do list 🙈
Oh, I love this so much! Love you rocking your baby to sleep and dreaming up poetry! I think this is why I love poetry so much, because you can write in fragments in Google docs on a phone. It's so good with small children. Keep going with the poetry! Thanks for all the recs and nap encouragement!!
How funny—I recently found an account on Instagram filled with those dances (including the two dancers featured in your video). I’ve never been able to learn but I love to watch it so much.
I always enjoy your posts. Congratulations on your soon to be little one!
Loved reading this! The junk drawer metaphor--wow, so accurate! Also, congratulations, I didn’t know you were pregnant, but oh yes, that is an incredibly tiresome stage! I’m feeling inspired by you!
Awww thanks so much Ashley!! I see that you're a Mum to three boys - we will soon have three boys too! I keep getting so many opinions that I "didn't get my girl" - how do you deal with this??
Umm...I guess I just started to ignore those questions or politely smile, depending on my mood. They continue long after you give birth too: all of the older people everywhere: “Three boys, huh? Gonna try for a girl?”
Running gives me time to think through my writing. I honestly don’t even head out thinking about it, but I’ll suddenly get some clarity. I also try to make it a point to write in my prayer journal every week. I start with writing as many things as I can think of from the past week to be thankful for. I sort of borrowed the idea of Ann Voskamp’s 1000 gifts. Except instead of writing down three things per day, it’s as much as I can think of for the week. My family is learning to leave me alone when I do that, lol. I totally understand the struggle when you have littles. That’s one thing they understand better as they grows
Oh that's so great. I wish I was a runner, but I just can't seem to get into it. If I'm running, something is chasing me. Love the gratitude, I do that too, it is so helpful. Thanks for the perspective with older kids!!
I “carve out” time to think when I am trying to fall asleep at night. My brain really comes alive then. Haha.
This has given me a lot to think about. I love your beach rhythm and wish we were that close to a beach. I need to figure out how to capture the essence of that!
Hahaha I relate to this hard. This is why I write before bed to clear it all out!!
The beach is nearly 40 minutes away so it is not exactly close, but worth it. Hope you find something sustainable, a way to rest. Honestly, just being outdoors makes such a difference.
So true! We had a glorious day of sun earlier in the week after what felt like weeks of clouds, and I just sat in the backyard with my eyes closed and my face tilted toward the sun. It felt like the equivalent of an hour of therapy.
I sometimes get veryyyy snarky with any advice about slowing down/breathing/rest. Do you even see my life people? I can be quite grumpy about it. But more and more I find that I’m really making excuses for why I can’t take the time. I’m scared of what I’ll find when I do slow down. So instead of choosing the pockets of rest and riding the waves of unpredictability that are inherent to motherhood, I buckle down into my busy because it’s miserable, maybe, but it makes me feel safe in its own way.
Hahahah, "do you even see my life people?!" Love it. Yeah, I really resonate with the buckling down into the busy. It has been such a fight to choose rest.
After I read this post, I went scrolling though to see if you had read this, Annelise. Your post out today and Rebecca's post reminded me of each other this morning. Have you read Annelise's post, Rebecca? https://anneliseroberts.substack.com/p/i-cant-write
I hadn't! But then I did AND IT IS DELIGHTFUL. And nuanced and complex and pragmatic and sad. I often feel that Annelise and I are processing through similar stuff with our writing, so another perspective is great.
Rebecca, hi. I'm all about your junk drawer analogy. Absolutely. And yes, let's hear it for Sabbath afternoons at the beach. And one more thing ... where did you find your lovely branch drawings between subjects? This Substack newbie has been looking for something like this.
Thanks Linda! I can't remember if I got it from The Noun Project or Canva, but it was definitely free. It definitely makes the whole thing feel a little more polished. Hope you find something fun!
Fun!
The Noun Project is exactly what I was looking for ... thank you!
Ahhhh, to your questions: (thanks for asking)
How do you carve out time to think?
I'm retired and the odd thing is (b/c my husband is also retired) finding a l o n e time to concentrate on my work has been a challenge. I'm becoming more intentional about it, though. Your Voxer/Slack group idea sounds wonderful--reminds me of Tolkein's mention of the need for 'resonators'--folks like The Inklings who can read and respond to each others' work. I have an online poetry group going around the poems in my book and it's generated some poetry drafts as well--super fun!
Do you have any weekly rhythms that help you rest? No, my life is too random. I pause and breathe deeply with feet planted firmly in one place to make myself slow down...
What are you reading right now?
Poetry--David's Crown by Malcolm Guite, C.S. Lewis Poems and a Madeleine L'Engle collection
Fiction--The Castle on the Hill, Elizabeth Goudge
Non-Fiction--Lifting the Veil-Imagination and the Kingdom of God, Malcolm Guite
(p.s. I've read all Ruth Reichl's books....had the privilege of meeting her several years ago. What a writer! My daughter gave me her cookbook "My Kitchen Year" written after she got sacked from Gourmet. Delightful read!
What are you cooking?
Just made pot roast last night but my newest venture is into the world of sourdough. I bought a cast iron pot and the whole deal, but goodness--it's a whole thing...
Thanks for asking, Becca--waving hello from Seattle, WA.
Thanks Jody! Genuinely fascinating that it is still hard to rest even in in your season! Impressed that you are reading six books and making sourdough. I made bread for a while but I never braved sourdough! Good luck!
Ah, yes....well 3 of the 5 books are poetry and since I'm a poet they offer inspiration and ideas.
Stay tuned for the Sourdough Adventure :-)
Your Sunday afternoon sounds lovely! And I agree, being part of a writing group is so life giving (and good for my writing!).
Thanks Alyssa! Who is in your writing group?
Funnily enough, the time I spend rocking my baby to sleep in a dark room is the time I get the most ideas! I've never ever written poetry but bc of all the awesome poetry I read here I have written two in my head while rocking and then as soon as he was asleep in bed, rushed out to write them down 😂 I've been listening to a lot less podcasts and audio books which frees up my mind too.
I've been reading lord of the rings, but also the Thursday murder club series and another fun mystery series by Kate saunders.
And tonight we had roasted potato salad, sausages and steak and tomorrow is recipetineats roast chicken which is honestly the best chicken I've ever made and eaten 🙌🏻
And get that sleep while you need it! The time will come when you don't need it as much and you can find rest by doing something creative! Or just catching up on the to do list 🙈
Oh, I love this so much! Love you rocking your baby to sleep and dreaming up poetry! I think this is why I love poetry so much, because you can write in fragments in Google docs on a phone. It's so good with small children. Keep going with the poetry! Thanks for all the recs and nap encouragement!!
How funny—I recently found an account on Instagram filled with those dances (including the two dancers featured in your video). I’ve never been able to learn but I love to watch it so much.
I always enjoy your posts. Congratulations on your soon to be little one!
Isn't it fun! It's just great to watch. Love that you enjoy it too. Thanks for the kind words! 💛
Loved reading this! The junk drawer metaphor--wow, so accurate! Also, congratulations, I didn’t know you were pregnant, but oh yes, that is an incredibly tiresome stage! I’m feeling inspired by you!
Awww thanks so much Ashley!! I see that you're a Mum to three boys - we will soon have three boys too! I keep getting so many opinions that I "didn't get my girl" - how do you deal with this??
Oh, that’s wonderful! I love my boys so much!!
Umm...I guess I just started to ignore those questions or politely smile, depending on my mood. They continue long after you give birth too: all of the older people everywhere: “Three boys, huh? Gonna try for a girl?”
Me: “nope, we’re not planning on it.”
Hahaha that's brilliant! Thank you!
Running gives me time to think through my writing. I honestly don’t even head out thinking about it, but I’ll suddenly get some clarity. I also try to make it a point to write in my prayer journal every week. I start with writing as many things as I can think of from the past week to be thankful for. I sort of borrowed the idea of Ann Voskamp’s 1000 gifts. Except instead of writing down three things per day, it’s as much as I can think of for the week. My family is learning to leave me alone when I do that, lol. I totally understand the struggle when you have littles. That’s one thing they understand better as they grows
Oh that's so great. I wish I was a runner, but I just can't seem to get into it. If I'm running, something is chasing me. Love the gratitude, I do that too, it is so helpful. Thanks for the perspective with older kids!!
I “carve out” time to think when I am trying to fall asleep at night. My brain really comes alive then. Haha.
This has given me a lot to think about. I love your beach rhythm and wish we were that close to a beach. I need to figure out how to capture the essence of that!
Hahaha I relate to this hard. This is why I write before bed to clear it all out!!
The beach is nearly 40 minutes away so it is not exactly close, but worth it. Hope you find something sustainable, a way to rest. Honestly, just being outdoors makes such a difference.
So true! We had a glorious day of sun earlier in the week after what felt like weeks of clouds, and I just sat in the backyard with my eyes closed and my face tilted toward the sun. It felt like the equivalent of an hour of therapy.
Oh amazing!
Your Sunday beach afternoons sound so special 💕
You are most welcome, Rebecca.
Thank you, Rebecca, for this relatable piece. The junk drawer analogy resonates with me.
Thanks Julie!
I sometimes get veryyyy snarky with any advice about slowing down/breathing/rest. Do you even see my life people? I can be quite grumpy about it. But more and more I find that I’m really making excuses for why I can’t take the time. I’m scared of what I’ll find when I do slow down. So instead of choosing the pockets of rest and riding the waves of unpredictability that are inherent to motherhood, I buckle down into my busy because it’s miserable, maybe, but it makes me feel safe in its own way.
Your beach afternoon sounds delightful :)
Hahahah, "do you even see my life people?!" Love it. Yeah, I really resonate with the buckling down into the busy. It has been such a fight to choose rest.
After I read this post, I went scrolling though to see if you had read this, Annelise. Your post out today and Rebecca's post reminded me of each other this morning. Have you read Annelise's post, Rebecca? https://anneliseroberts.substack.com/p/i-cant-write
I hadn't! But then I did AND IT IS DELIGHTFUL. And nuanced and complex and pragmatic and sad. I often feel that Annelise and I are processing through similar stuff with our writing, so another perspective is great.
Bec I’d never heard of West Coast Swing, but that video was amazing! Cant believe you can dance like that!
Hahaha I wish I could dance like her!! I did a few years of WCS and I love it, but definitely nothing like that!
"Where am I going to get two hours a day to just think Greg?" Bahaha! It's true though. 🤷🏼♀️