“Happiness is like a
cat, If you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come.
But if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it
rubbing against your legs and jumping into your lap.”
—William Bennett
I’m feeling a bit bookish, how about you? Watching the
premier episode of The Great American Read reminded me of just how much reading
and books have meant to me, and how passionate readers are about their
favorites. Plus I’ve been inspired by blogging friends who’ve posted their own
summer reading lists: Leanne Sowul has an ambitious list of 37 books on hers!
And Danielle Torres has a cool theme for her summer reading. Check it out here.
Me, I’m all over the place. I want to read All The Books.
I’ve chosen quite a few from my groaning TBR shelf, and a few from the
running list I keep in my planner. I know I
won’t read them all, but that’s OK. I
love the process of choosing books to read. Thinking about reading is almost as fun as actually reading.
The first two books come from the Great American
Read list of 100 novels: The Giver, by Lois Lowry and The Stand, by Stephen King. I’m not sure I’m up for this
chunk of a book, but maybe. Or maybe I’ll woman up and choose War and Peace?
I’m very intrigued by Circe, by Madeline Miller.
Blandings Castle, by P.G. Wodehouse. Sometimes I just
need a little Wodehouse. (I was disappointed to see none of his novels made the
list for the Great American Read.)
Starting to prepare for Paris in the fall with these possibilities:
The Light of Paris, by Eleanor Brown. This one is
waiting for me at the library as I type. Thanks to Danielle for the
recommendation.
The Little Pleasures of Paris, by Leslie Jonath.
True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris, by Lucinda Holdforth.
Paris in Stride: An Insider’s Walking Guide, by Jessie
Kanelos Weiner. I’m already reading this charming little book.
Speaking of Paris, I should be practicing my drawing and
painting prior to the trip. Am I? No, I am not. Maybe one of these books will
jump start my practice:
Keys to Drawing, by Bert Dodson.
The New Creative Artist, by Nita Leland
How about a peek into someone else’s life? I have the
Journal of Eugene Delacroix on my shelves, as well as Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, by Edith Holden.
Surviving Your Dog’s Adolescence, by Carol Benjamin.
Because Luna.
Upstream, by Mary Oliver. I love her poetry, and look
forward to reading this collection of essays.
The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Leport.
Because now I have a thing for Wonder Woman.
Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan, by Elaine M. Hayes One of my favorite jazz singers
The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. by Gil McNeil. Because it’s been
on my TBR list for years!
A collection of short stories: either by Eudora Welty (I have a collection
on my TBR stack at home), Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors, Edith
Pearlman’s Honeydew, or Ellen Gilchrist’s Acts of God.
These are the books I feel like reading now—and that list is
likely to change over the summer as new books catch my eye. Will I find a new favorite author or will one of
these books rate as a “best read” for 2018? I can’t wait to find out.
“Close friends contribute to our personal growth. They also
contribute to our personal pleasure, making the music sound sweeter, the wine
taste richer, the laughter ring louder
because they are there.”
because they are there.”
—Judith Viorst
June 8 is Best Friends Day—let’s celebrate the people who bring so much happiness and pleasure to our lives!
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| Photo by Angelina Litvin on Unsplash |
Those of you who know me know I hate summer in Florida. It’s
too hot and humid to enjoy being outside, and those conditions drain my energy
and kill any desire I might have to get things done. Unfortunately, the
need to get things done doesn’t go away with the advent of summer
conditions. Every year, I tell myself I’m not going to complain (much) about
the weather, and I am going to plan fun things to look forward to during the
hottest, stickiest months. (You can read about previous summer fun lists here
and here. Last year I was deep in the redesign of Catching Happiness and didn’t
make a list—instead, I asked friends to share their favorite summer pleasures.)
This year, I’d planned to make a summer fun list again, but
I’ve been struggling to come up with anything that sounded like fun.
Yes, I can make a struggle out of having fun.
Then I realized that part of the problem was that I was
making a list of things to do. If you were already fighting an energy
drain, would you want to pile more things to do upon yourself, even for
the sake of “fun”? Probably not.
What will make me happy this summer? To have more
time to relax and do nothing (or very little). What that
translates to for me is: time to read a book on the couch in the afternoon,
time to play with Luna in the pool, time to sit in my rocking chair and
daydream, even time to putter around my house tidying up the inevitable messes
that materialize here and there. (It makes me happy to have a pretty and tidy
home.)
In 2018, I’ve been busier with freelance work than I’ve been
in a long time (for which I’m very, very grateful), as well as training and
supervising Luna, which means I’m stuffing other necessary and pleasurable
activities into a smaller box of time. It feels like every moment of my day is
full, and there’s a waiting list for my time and attention. So this summer, I
want to rush less and savor more, to float rather than dog paddle.
I’m looking for an easy, relaxed feeling this summer
(flow!), not to cram it full of more things to DO. I’m still experimenting with
not over-planning my schedule after my mini-breakdown in March.
Does this make me a slacker? No, it does not. My summer fun
list doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s in order for it to be right for
me. And neither does yours. I don’t want to run around a lot, but maybe you do.
Maybe you’ve been cooped up all winter and you’re ready for adventures! Maybe
you still have kids at home who’ll drive you insane if you don’t get them out
of the house to do something. I remember those years.
Sure, a movie or a museum visit with a friend will be most
welcome, and I’ll likely create a summer reading list since I haven’t done one
for a couple of years…and that couch is beckoning. Beyond that, I don’t think I
want to commit to doing anything else!
For me this summer, that feels right.
Tell me about your summer fun plans. What will you do—or not do?
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| Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash |
“Why is play so elusive for some grown-ups? Because we are
so strongly attracted and attached to a profoundly goal-oriented, work-ethic-driven
society. Like other forms of nonwork, play connotes wastefulness, a stoppage in
the way of what needs to get done. Yet often what really needs to get done has
more to do with our hearts and spirits and less to do with a deadline or
longstanding project. Play beckons to us, urging us to live in the present
moment, a moment that becomes more luminous when we disallow interruptions like
work and worry.”
—Leslie
Levine, Ice Cream for Breakfast
How will you play today?
