When Life Gets In The Way of Reading
Life got in the way of my reading this year, but in the best way possible. I had a baby.
Becoming a parent changes your life in a myriad of ways and with such huge life changes, the first things to take the back burner (or completely disappear) are your hobbies. Days become weeks, weeks become months and you’re asking yourself what happened to the fun things you used to do.
Greetings, once again dear reader👋🏽👋🏽
I hope you are doing well and taking good care of yourself.
Welcome to another edition of this spectacular newsletter.
“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” - Lena Dunham
Over the years, different things have contented with my love for reading but I always found my rhythm somehow. This time, though, it was different. Once I grabbed my iPad and settled into bed, I would be asleep in a matter of minutes. Before my baby came, I was always sleepy and after she arrived, I spent all my free time sleeping.
As soon as I started to feel like myself again, I resumed working on books. I edited five full-length books (two have been published 🎉) almost back-to-back, with some articles, short stories, and guides in between. As you can imagine, I became too tired to enjoy reading.
When I started posting about the books I read on social media in 2020, it was not to be able to say at the end of the year that I read x number of books but I soon found myself under pressure to set targets. I’m happy it didn’t last long.
I made it to twenty books this year, more than half of which were short stories or audiobooks. I also added more books to my TBR list. I’m having a hard time picking a favourite so my top two are Maame by Jessica George and Abi Dare’s The Girl With the Louding Voice.
I spent my free time solving jigsaw puzzles. My favourite one for the year is pictured above. I think it requires more energy and brain power than reading but I was happy not to stare at more words.
All of this is to say when life gets in the way of reading (or any hobby), you can find another fun thing to do or even a new hobby.
So, we go again in the coming year. I hope I can get back to reading for fun soon.
How many books did you read this year? Did you meet your reading goals? Let’s know!
#53: The Beauty of the Mundane
A cup of tea on a cold day is an ordinary thing. Wrapped in a blanket while sipping the tea is as normal as it gets so it is not something many people would appreciate or yearn for. We barely see the beauty in such moments because we have had them too many times.
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