I had to migrate my books to the floor as they are overflowing. The picture above is books read in 2019 and this pile are books read so far (40+) in 2020. I don’t remember reading as much since my teens years. The pandemic really brought a perfect shock to how I spend my time. Getting off the phone was the main trigger to get back into reading, not only because of the opportunity cost of time but also attention span. If I spend the whole day on my phone/computer, then I can’t focus and slowdown to read. Kae asked me how I read so much, honestly it’s pretty simple, I just enjoy reading. I think many people say they want to read more because that might sound good/right, but they probably would be happy without it, like my husband. And that is totally fine. It’s leisure time, so one needs to do whatever brings their leisure 🙂 For me, reading a good book brings so many benefits, so I have books everywhere in the house. I tend to read 1 or 2 books max at the time, definitely not two novels. I like to think/reflect about the book I’m at the moment in my non-reading time.
One negative consequence of my reading life is that Sofia does the same. As a result, we have BOOKS EVERYWHERE x2!
There is a chapter in Untamned that made me reflect what do we mean by being brave. Glennon’s two daughters are very different, Amma is wild and outgoing, the Tish one is introvert, reserve and reflective. She was describing their experience to get ear pierced. Amma got her ear pierced without hesitation. Then when was the turn of Tsh, after she saw the red plume ear, she changed her mind. Despite the peer pressure of “to be brave and just do it” Tsh didn’t change her mind.
“I don’t think brave means what we’ve been saying it means. We tell our children that brave means feeling afraid and doing it anyway, but is this the definition we want them to carry at they get older?
Brave does not mean feeling afraid and doing it anyway. Brave means living from the inside out. Brave means, in every uncertain moment, turning inward, feeling for the Knowing, and speaking it out. Whether you are brave or not cannot be judged by the people on the outside. Sometimes being brave means letting everyone down but yourself.
If you keep living with confidence, the rest of your life will unfold exactly as it is meant to. It won’t always be comfortable. Some will recognize your brave; others won’t. Some will understand and like you; others won’t. But the way others respond to your confidence is not your business. Your business is to be loyal to you.
To be brave is to forsake all others to be true to yourself.
This is the vow of a confident girl. “
I read it and nodding. Sofia is my Amma and Lizzy is Tish. To Sofia I need to let her know to resist peer pressure as she values relationship above all and I can see her doing things to please others. To Lizzy I need to respect her decisions, affirm her that it’s right to be confident with her decision even though others might think she’s not brave enough or too shy.
This is what a good book can do, make me reflect and learn something along the way. 🙂
Our New Journey 
What a nice passage. Very thought provoking indeed. I’m totally the same way- I love when even fiction can inspire me or make me think. I personally always like to have one fiction book going and one non-fiction. I also read a lot more now than I had in years- I read a TON as a kid but from college up through a few years ago I didn’t read as much. Just was busy with school reading in college and then just fell out of the habit, then busy with little babies/kids for a while… I also am so much happier now that I’m reading again regularly, though I still don’t read as much as you do!
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