The past seven months have been weird. In the spring, the pandemic forced everything to close down and all my extracurricular activities and side hustles to temporarily cease and desist. My body and mind rested and remembered the joys of peace and quiet. I made reading, baking, painting, working out, cooking, self-care and cleaning weekly…
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Learning to survive the learning curve
I have an awful lot of hobbies and side hustles – I like to feel productive by pursuing things that bring me joy. I also have a hard time remembering that there are only 24 hours in a day and that a good portion of those are used up by my full-time job, sleeping and…
Book Review: Born a Crime
From comedian and talk-show host Trevor Noah, Born a Crime is a delightful look into the formative years of one of America’s favorite comedic expats. This was yet another book on my reading list that I will honestly admit I didn’t buy until the most recent explosion of racial tension in America occurred earlier this…
Book Review: Sense and Sensibility
I really love Jane Austen’s books – or at least most of them. I did not mean to read two Austen books back-to-back, but I became really disenchanted with the nonfiction bore I kept attempting to finish reading (and I was feeling the “do more of what you love” empowerment) so I threw my reading…
Expectations vs. Reality
Today is my birthday. Which is something I don’t normally share about. I’ve been told that I’m an enigma — and I like it that way. You see, if people know something about you, they may or may not use that information, to your advantage or disadvantage. If someone knows about your birthday, you might…
Book Review: Northanger Abbey
Pride and Prejudice and Emma, two of Jane Austen’s other books rank as two of my favorite novels of all time. Recently I remembered that I’ve owned a tattered copy of Northanger Abbey for years, but I hadn’t actually read it yet. Honestly there’s no better time to visit Austen’s world than the holidays when…
The insightful gift of hindsight
One year ago, I quit my job. More accurately, a year and a half ago I quit my job, but circumstances were such that I phased out very slowly. It was a blessing and a curse. Two years ago I decided I needed to move on from my job. I no longer felt that I…
Book Review: The Bourne Identity
I remember when The Bourne Identity movie came out. My dad and I agreed that it was SO GOOD. My mom, on the other hand, was appalled. She had read the book first and claimed that the film depicted a wildly different story line. I ignored her and continued blissfully enjoying the entire Bourne film…
Book review: Into the Wild
Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer (1996), was a bummer of a book. Describing the ultimately fatal journey of a disillusioned, middle-class young man into the Alaskan wilderness, the book seeks to explain how and why Chris McCandless died. Through interviews with the family members he abandoned on the East Coast and the friends he…
Checking the motives of lifelong learning
I love learning. I’m an Enneagram 5, which if you know anything about the Enneagram, you know that means I’m a hoarder of knowledge, resources and energy. Fortunately, I’m a fairly healthy 5, so I stay relatively engaged in the world and I don’t cling to too many worldly possessions. I do, however, have piles…
L.M.Beatty 