It is hard to find the new normal, lately. As a person who generally has a hard time with routine, I appreciate that my job is NOT a routine grind. That said, as summer is in the throes of ultimate laziness, I find myself missing adventure and the outdoors (as evidenced by the Instagram pick of the week).
So this week I have been working on my powersheets for the month and trying to figure out if I need to set some actual standards and schedules for my life, to get things done and work in some of the adventurous goals I have so I feel better about it all, or if it is healthier, at this stage, to just keep rolling with each day and take it as it comes. I dunno. It feels like there should be a really kind balance in there. Thoughts?
It all makes me remember, though, in such a poignant way, how quickly these days are going…like sand through the hour glass friends… The kids look so much older to me, and I miss their smells and hugs when I am in the office. Another reason to love my powersheets work: it asks me to write down the moments of gratitude and memories. It reminds me to focus on the powerful minutes we do have together rather than mourn for what I could be doing with my hours.
Aside from powersheets and motherhood, though, there are some other things that we’ve been loving this week…
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Our favorite Instagram of the week on FamilyTripMag:
Our Family Friday Five Roundup Includes:
1- This book on books that build character for kids (am I the only one who seems to collect books about books?). But with one child who can’t read enough and another who will devour books IF they are the right ones, it is hard to know what to get from the library. This book is an incredibly helpful resource.
2- This dress – I want about 5 of those patterns. I haven’t bought yet because, honestly, it seems too good to be true… what do you think?
3- This article on Brookings, that is a reaction piece to this article on The Atlantic: Is the future of the city childless? As someone who moved to the burbs to have kids and a slower pace of life, I get it.
4- Aveda Volumizing Tonic. Back in an office on a regular basis means back to having presentable hair. No more “beach hair, don’t care” hat.
5- Behold, the Millennial Nuns article on HuffPost. If you want something to really make you think, question and wonder, spend some time reading this. My mother-in-law sent it to me and I found it a fascinating look at an as-yet-unexplored rising trend.
America started with a religious narrative—the city on a hill—and once you conceive of it, still, as a society grasping for religion, you see it everywhere. The free-floating moral rage, which affixes itself to targets like cucks or Aziz Ansari or libtards or MAGA bigots. The conviction, in the way we now talk about the climate or the loss of our “values,” that the world will inevitably be ruined because of our sins. Things like Goop and the gluten-free movement are basically straight-up religions, promising spiritual renewal and healing from all sickness, only with a jade yoni egg as the Eucharist. We’re fixated on minimalism and self-purification, be it by the methods of Marie Kondo or “inbox zero” or Jordan Peterson, whose popularity rests less on his insights about Carl Jung or lobster biology than on his idea that life can be boiled down to 12 rules—commandments.
Articles from last year:
Hope you all have a great weekend! I am hopeful for hiking and maybe finally getting to that peach orchard (we keep getting rained out). Stay tuned on Instagram if you want to connect, and we’ll see you next week with more family trips!