Tag: reading
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Book #32- Reflections on “Raising Hare”
Book #32 Raising Hare By Chloe Dalton Wild Animals This is a charming story of a successful career woman who moves back into her parents’ house during the pandemic and begins to raise a baby hare that is found alone nearby. I found myself getting really attached to the hare’s journey. Her story reminded me… Read more
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The Authentic Path to Forgiveness
“Forgiveness isn’t something you can will yourself to do. It’s a state of mind that comes to you when it’s good and ready. Pressure to forgive puts an unfair burden on a process that can take a lifetime and may never be completed.” – Lindsay C. Gibson, Disentangling From Emotionally Immature People What Love, Trust, &… Read more
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How To Grow Your Original Voice in 5 Steps
The Evolution of My Writing & Creativity At the beginning of my Reading & Blogging Challenge, I lamented how clunky my thoughts and words were. They felt like hardened toothpaste struggling to leave the tube. Recently, I posted my 118th blog post of the year. This one was about the book Disentangling From Emotionally Immature People by Lindsay… Read more
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Book #31- Reflections on “Disentangling from Emotionally Immature People”
Book #31 Disentangling from Emotionally Immature People By Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD Disentangling Disentangling isn’t a clean break. It’s slow, deliberate work that often takes years. I have been thinking a lot about that word lately- disentangling– as I take small, steady steps toward healthier relationships and a life that feels like my own. Both the… Read more
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The Hardest Part of Any Goal? The Middle
Midway Discouragement in a 52-Book Reading Challenge This year, I am reading 52 books and documenting how my life improves because of it. I have read 30/52 books so far, which means I am about 60% through this challenge. While this Reading Challenge has been an incredible success, I’ve been slipping into moments of discouragement… Read more
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Book #30- Reflections on “The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea”
Book #30 The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea By Axie Oh Fictional Stories Across Cultures & Time I really enjoy books on fiction and myth from different cultures. It tells you a lot about that culture: its values, symbols, history, tradition, and worldview. I have been thinking a lot lately about the stories that… Read more
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Book #29- Reflections on “Influencing Death”
Book #29 Influencing Death: Reframing Dying for Better Living By Penny Hawkins Smith, RN Reflections on Death My year-long journey of self-improvement centers around how to live a good life in the modern age- and the other side of life is death. I have already read The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware and… Read more
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The Beauty Around Me: What I Noticed When I Finally Looked Up
Noticing the Beauty Around Me I am trying to be a happier person these days- more appreciative and less pessimistic. So I am intentionally putting effort into noticing the beauty of the world around me. A few days ago, I was at the park. I was by myself and laid down a blanket under the… Read more
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Book #28- Reflections on “Rest is Resistance”
Book #28 Rest is Resistance By Tricia Hersey When Life Forces You to Slow Down A recent stress-induced trip to the emergency room made me question my relationship with productivity, as did the previous book in my reading challenge. That is how I found Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey. My body was making it clear that… Read more
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Book #27- Reflections on “Meet Me in the Margins”
Book #27 Meet Me in the Margins By Melissa Ferguson A Seemingly Light Read- With Hidden Depths Books like this can seem uncomplicated; simplistic escapism in book form. It is probably a much healthier form of escapism compared to some other forms, though. I tend to relax as I listen to the inner thoughts of… Read more
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Book #26- Reflections on “Think Like an Artist”
Book #26 Think Like an Artist By Will Gompertz Lack of Confidence in Creative People It is ironic that a lot of creative people suffer from a lack of confidence and imposter syndrome- since creative fields have some of the lowest standards of entry. You don’t need to pass a test to be a song… Read more
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Book #25- Reflections on “The Fellowship of the Ring”
Book #25 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring By J.R.R. Tolkien Enjoying My Favorite Childhood Book This was one of my favorite books growing up so I thought it would be nice to pull it off the shelf and dust it off, especially now that I am recovering from not feeling… Read more
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The Difference Between Fiction and Non-Truth
Why Some Fiction Feels More “Real” Than Other Fiction I recently wrote a blog post discussing the difference between true and untrue fiction. By “true” I don’t mean factual, but rather having strong internal logic and authority such that we collectively believe in its intellectual merit. “Untrue” fiction, by contrast, includes works like fan fiction. These may have strong… Read more
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Book #24- Reflections on “Death of the Author”
Book #24 Death of the Author By Nnedi Okorafor This book was exactly what I was looking for. I have been musing a lot about storytelling and technology lately and this book combines the two. It has two storylines; that of a fictional author and the contents of the science fiction book she creates. It… Read more
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A New Appreciation For Language
Analytical Writing My degrees are in STEM so my language tends to be rather artificial and scientific. It is succinct; not flowery in any way. It is descriptive only when necessary, never just for the sake of it. It is calculated; a science, rather than an art. And in my personal life, my language (especially… Read more
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Finding Balance: Reading, Reflection, and Self-Care
Learning to Celebrate My Wins and Appreciate Success I am just about halfway through my year-long challenge of reading 52 books. When reading so many books (and writing several blog posts about each), the pace needs to be quick. But I need to allow myself space for reflection as well. I know reading these books… Read more
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The Pressure on Modern Students
A High Achiever’s Burnout Story In my latest post, I discussed I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman and the limitations of the metrics used when measuring student potential and success. This for me is a very personal issue and is connected to something much larger: the pressure we put on modern… Read more
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Book #19- Reflections on “I Was Told It Would Get Easier”
Book #19 I Was Told It Would Get Easier By Abbi Waxman The Problem With Measuring People With Metrics Books with cartoon covers always throw me off. I expect them to be simple and childish and they will sometimes be deeply thoughtful. This book follows a fictional mother and daughter as they tour college campuses… Read more
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Book #17- Reflections on “Steal Like An Artist”
Book #17 Steal Like An Artist By Austin Kleon This book has been on my TBR list for a long time. I can’t believe how long it has taken me to get around to reading it considering it’s actually pretty short. It has a lot of wisdom in it, though. I wanted to devote this… Read more
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How To Kill Someone Without Ever Killing Them
The Importance of Personal Narrative The English language needs to invent a new word for the act of killing someone without ever killing them. While I was reading the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, there is a panel where his father admits to having thrown out Art’s late mother’s journals from the time she… Read more
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Competing With a Ghost
The Picture of Others in Our Mind In the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, he talks about how he often felt compared to the idea of his older brother Richieu, who died as a child during World War 2. Richieu was later idealized in his parent’s mind. What would he have become? Surely not… Read more
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Blooming Pink Flowers
I have been feeling pretty pessimistic about the world for the past few years, but through this year of self-improvement I am trying to be more positive. This has meant that I have been consciously noticing more of life’s sweet moments. Recently, I was sitting in a park reading a book for my 2025 Reading… Read more
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The Blessing of a Delay
Convenient Content I was recently writing a blog post in a place where the Wi-Fi wasn’t great. I was outdoors by the water so I am not complaining and I used my iPhone’s hotspot to write. After about an hour of writing, I took a break. I took a sip of my now-cold tea, and… Read more
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You Can Be Affected By Trauma Even if it Doesn’t Occur
You Can Be Safe, But Still Scared In If Only I’d Known!, Chelsey Brooke Cole talks about the emotional impact of a near miss. Events can still affect you even if they don’t actually end up happening. She uses the example of nearly hitting an animal with your car. Your heart may still be racing… Read more
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The Suction of Abuse
The Progression of an Abusive Relationship Very rarely do abusive relationships start out that way. Often each person involved is on their best behavior in the beginning. Wonderful memories are made. You hope this will last forever. Over time, disquieting experiences start to show. You start to feel unheard or subtly disrespected. No matter. The… Read more
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Book #13- Reflections on “If Only I’d Known!”
Book #13 If Only I’d Known! By Chelsey Brooke Cole LPC-MHSP, CPTT, RPT The Compounding Relationship Between Trauma & Blame Therapist Chelsey Brooke Cole begins this book by talking about how upset she was at herself for being in yet another abusive relationship. The negative feelings she had toward herself had intensified with each mistake,… Read more
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Human Artist vs. Machine Artist
How to Define “Art” in the 21st Century What defines art? How will we define it in this new phase of humanity? Is art created using artificial intelligence considered “art”? Can a photograph generated using AI be compared to a photograph taken by a human? What is the distinction? I am trying to sort out… Read more
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The Blessing and Curse of Influence
The Relationship Between Influence and Originality In his book Drawing For Illustration, author Martin Salisbury talks about the number of artistic influences that modern day illustrators have access to. They are exposed to so much creativity from around the world at the click of a button. This access to information is incredible. Before the internet,… Read more
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When Curiosity Chooses the Book: Reading Drawing For Illustration
Reading For Curiosity, Not Goals I really enjoyed taking the time to read Drawing For Illustration by Martin Salisbury. I would not say it is a form of artistry that I had previously put much thought into. This book gave me a new appreciation for it. I have started to notice all the illustrations around… Read more
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Book #12- Reflections on “Drawing For Illustration”
Book #12 Drawing For Illustration By Martin Salisbury I have been choosing a lot of art books for my 2025 Reading Challenge, which is to read 52 books in 2025. Although I do occasionally create art, it is more of a hobby. I think one of the reasons that I am hesitant to call myself… Read more