My summer started in a frenzy. My youngest daughter has been battling eczema caused by allergies, so we’ve been scrambling to figure out what causes flare-ups (so far culprits include milk, nuts, wool, and polyester) and then structuring life around avoiding those no-nos. My older daughter is officially a teenager now, which has been awesome in terms of being able to pass some more YA books her way, and because we get to spend a lot of time this summer talking about big life things. A few favorite topics around our house: social justice, what it means to really love others, and best Downton Abbey or Jane Austen characters.
I’m falling a bit behind on reviews and have completely lost track of my social media presence. Normally that would be enough to keep me up at night, heart pounding with anxiety, but these days, I’m trying to enjoy each day as it comes and be flexible. I’m prioritizing my relationships with people, especially my family, first. I think I will always have too much to do, because no matter how diligently I try to downsize my commitments list, somehow it ends up overflowing with things again. I like to do a lot of different things. So I’m kind of making peace with that and learning to be more flexible about my schedule.
Priorities Make All the Difference
I have to credit happiness expert and author Ingrid Kelada with at least some of this transformation. (See my review of her book, 21 Days to Happiness here.) I’ve been helping her with some administrative tasks since last fall, and decided to read her book, too. Not only has the book been practical and helpful, Ingrid is an amazing person to work with. She’s super organized and productive. High energy but not high pressure. I think working with her and watching how she operates has helped me give myself permission to and encouraged me to do the same.
Right now I’ve got several reviews scheduled for books I’m really excited to share, and Gabrielle has a top ten list coming up that you won’t want to miss. I’ve got some more projects happening behind the scenes that I’m looking forward to sharing soon, too.
Tell me about your summer!
Hope you are having an amazing summer so far, too!
Drop me a comment and let me know what you’re most looking forward to reading this summer or one thing you’ve learned this year that has changed your life.