Reading in 2014

DSC_0194I mentioned in my feelings & goals post that I wanted to “read big” in 2014. To me that means not being intimidated or annoyed or tired by long books or serious ones or complicated ones. The long ones always wind up being among my favourites anyways, so this year I plan to cut the reading angst and embrace big (in every sense of the word) books wholeheartedly. Hopefully I’ll be posting here about my favourites a few times throughout the year. 

There are lots of titles I’m excited to read this year, and my list has been inspired by a ton of great sources, like Joy The Baker’s Break Your Heart Winter Reading List and the comments on this great book recommendations post. 

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld: Curtis is one of my favourite authors. I have read all three of her other books and been blown away by the way she pays attention to the littlest human details and somehow weaves them effortlessly into a great story. She can articulate those things that we all experience but don’t always put into words. Her work is always so relatable and wonderful and entertaining. Don’t be put off by the description of this book: it’s about two psychic twins that live in St. Louis – one who is a psychic for a living, and the other who is a very conventional, stay at home mom who is embarrassed by her twin sister when she publicly predicts a massive earthquake. The synopsis didn’t grab me, but of course Curtis Sittenfeld’s writing has me at hello, every time. I’ve been waiting for a new book from her for almost three years, so I’m thrilled about this one, which I read last week. It was excellent, of course. 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes: I’ve been reading about this one all over, including when I saw it won third place in the GoodReads choice awards (always a good resource for hot new titles). I just got it out of the library (after a marathon of being something like 54th in line on the waiting list) and have only read the first few pages but I can tell it’s going to be good. From what I can tell it has a similar concept to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – a quadriplegic’s relationship with his home heath aide – but I’m sure it will bring its own humour and heartbreak.

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell: I’m not sure how they timed it but three of my favourite authors have new books this year – Malcolm, Curtis and Sarah Addison Allen. This is awesome! But also sad, because it means I will have to wait a long time until they publish something new, probably all at the same time again. It’s a conspiracy, I’m convinced. My Dad got me Gladwell’s latest for Christmas, and it’s stories of underdogs and how the weak can defeat the strong! I’m very excited to read it. 

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen: I adore all her other books, so I can’t wait to gobble this one up like the comfort-food-for-the-soul it is. 

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Klein

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb: I really would like to read all of Wally Lamb’s books this year (I’ve only read The Hour I First Believed) because I think he’s a wonderful writer and his books get so much acclaim. But I’m always intimidated by them! Gotta encourage myself to read them this year. 

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: Another one that I’ve been hearing buzz about everywhere. Apparently it is fantastic, and “Dickensian”, and although I’ve never read any Dickens, that sounds quite impressive. 

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese: I’ve heard so many good things about this book from friends and family but have been scared off by its size. The same goes for Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

Year of the Flood + MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood: I loved the first book in this trilogy, and I’d love to read the others. 

Transatlantic by Colum McCann

And the list goes on (and on, and on…) – see my complete To-Read list right here. What are you reading in 2014? Let’s read bravely and voraciously.

Feelings & Goals for 2014

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This year, I read The Desire Map for the first time, and I absolutely loved it. The whole idea is that whenever you set a goal, you’re really chasing the feeling that you think you’ll have once you achieve that goal. So the book argues that we should all start our goal-setting process by thinking about how we want to feel, first and foremost, and then create goals based on those feelings. Her book is great for delving into the details and walking you through the best ways to hone in on your desired feelings and avoid choosing generic feelings or goals that are prescribed by society. I would definitely recommend checking it out. I talk a lot about The Desire Map and my other favourite ways to set goals in this week’s episode of the podcast, which you can find here. 

Once you’ve gotten clear on how you want to feel, you’re in a much better position to set goals that are aligned with what you really truly want. I narrowed it down to five core desired feelings (after several drafts!) which have lots of different meanings for me, some of which are listed below. 

The Feelings

abundance: my word for the year! read what it means to me here. 

connection: meaningful conversations, reaching out to loved ones, tuned in to my body and my brain, looking at my life in a holistic way (all parts as being connected and balanced), experiencing synchronicity in my everyday life, being alert, attentive and a good listener

lightness: a sense of ease in my life, gracefulness, confidence, not eating too much, flexibility, calmness, bliss, a light tone to relationships (no drama, no way!), clean, efficient, enough/plenty, a sense of flow in my activities

expansion: growing, learning from my experiences and other people, trying new things, being a bigger person, open-mindedness, openness to new people and things, a sense of opportunity and possibility, hope, constantly improving, constantly creating

joyful: spontaneity, delight, wonder, a sense of awe, celebrations in my everyday life, appreciating the small things, appreciating everyday beauty, enthusiasm, surprises, a sense of occasion

The Goals

  • Read big: not only do I want to read 75 books again this year, I want to read more bravely. That means not shying away from long, hefty, heavy books that both intrigue and intimidate me.
  • Edit my possessions: I like the idea of owning less, but I’m such a homebody that I seem to draw extra junk to me like a magnet. In the spirit of feeling lightness, I want to throw away anything that isn’t useful or beautiful or make me feel good. 
  • More travel! Especially travel with friends or to see friends that live far away. 
  • Continue to increase my strength and flexibility (open my hips enough for full lotus and get the upper body and core strength for handstand and arm balances)
  • Move back into my own place in a vibrant city.

My goals for 2014 aren’t as specific as they’ve been in the past, but I’m okay with it. The year ahead is a great big question mark in a lot of ways, but I’m trying to think of it as a fresh page to write on instead of a big abyss to fall into (only half kidding). I’m happy to have my desired feelings to guide me, no matter what I choose to do in 2014. 

2014: Abundance

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At the start of 2013, I chose the word reach as my one little word for the year. You can learn more about choosing a word here, but the gist is you choose a word to sort of guide you through the year. I think reach served me very well in 2013. I’ll be honest: my word wasn’t always on my mind, and my monthly goal setting dropped off somewhere around April (oops), but I think even the act of making the intention to reach more in 2013 shaped my choices and thinking this year. I pushed myself, I reached out, I explored the unknown and I tried my very best.

In 2014, my word is abundance. Abundance! I’ve been so into this word and concept over the last couple months that it just seemed like the perfect word to shape the coming year. I also worked through The Desire Map for the first time this December and chose abundance as one of my core desired feelings. I’ll be sharing my other four core desired feelings and what they mean for me in an upcoming post.

To me, abundance means:

  • believing that I am enough, that my choices are the right ones for me, that I’m going to be okay, and that things will work out
  • there is enough of everything to go around: love, money, happiness, adventure, beauty, intelligence
  • that life is not a competition or a zero sum game. Nobody has to lose so that I can win or vice versa. (I’m thinking about this on a macro level, not on a “who gets the job” kind of level)
  • having generosity of spirit: giving people the benefit of the doubt, being kind, giving of myself, my time, and my money, being the bigger person
  • being excited, enthusiastic and passionate about things in my life
  • being magnanimous
  • practicing gratitude for the friends, family, and fun that I have
  • believing that there is time and space to be patient and compassionate with myself and others
  • open-mindedness: there are many good, different ways to think, do, and live

I am really excited about 2014. The details are murky (where I’ll be living, where I’ll be working), but the broad strokes are exciting. I’ll be reading a lot, I’ll be practicing yoga, I’ll be keeping up with my creative projects (this blog and my podcast), I’ll be exploring and trying new things. And all the while, I hope to be remembering abundance and applying that beautiful, generous concept to every area of my life.

I’m very grateful this New Year’s Eve!

Happy New Year, everyone.

 

2013

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2013 was a big year. Very big. When I was scrolling through my photos from the year, I kept being amazed by how very much I was lucky enough to experience this year. There were so many decisions and laughs and tears and adventures and books and feelings to be had this year. I sometimes feel confused and a little lost but I know I am blessed and I am very, very grateful. 

The Highlights:

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DSC_0009DSC_0090 DSC_0047Here’s to 2014. As always, I hope that it will be as big and as beautiful as the last.

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