Tag Archives: reading

Learnings From the Wild Child

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I finally read Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild.

For some reason I tend to resist reading a book that becomes a movie, but I’m glad I didn’t resist this one. In retrospect, I learned a lot from the book and I was reminded strongly about the power of setting your mind to something. Honestly, I hope anyone who reads the book comes away with this message.

Here are some of my leanings and reflections:

Do something that scares you. That means: do something you think you couldn’t do. Forget about others thinking you couldn’t do it. This is about you.

Prepare yourself for disappointment, but rise above it and move on.

Embrace meeting all types of people on your journey.

Trust yourself.

Open your eyes and ears, literally.

Be kind to others, wherever you are and no matter how you’re feeling.

Love nature, your emotions, experiences, people.

Savor every moment of the learning experience.

Be someone’s positive memory.

Accept who you are, but know that you can always become a better version of yourself.

Do.

Learn.

Share.

Live.

Three Years Later

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Yes, it took me about three years to read a book.

Why? I don’t know.

Which book, you ask? Before I tell you, you have to know that it was a fantastic book. I don’t even think the word “book” does it justice. It’s a well-crafted piece of literature. A must-read.

The story well-written, expertly researched; the characters complex and deep; the ending what I wanted it to be.

I’m not going to tell you what it’s about, because you must read it, and you can look it up anyway. It’s literature that takes you to a monumental time when treating others horribly was the norm, and society was far worse than it is now. Although it is a work of fiction, it is based in research (as mentioned), and reflects history closely.

It’s called Someone Knows My Name (in the US) and The Book of Negroes (in Canada), written by Lawrence Hill, an amazing Canadian author. Read it.

Just don’t take as long as I did to read it. I’m sure you won’t!

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Why Can’t I Read?

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I just can’t read for longer than 15  minutes. Why? Why? Why?

I have huge aspirations for reading all the time, but I can’t do it for long!

tutte-reflectionsonlifecom.blogspot.com

tutte-reflectionsonlifecom.blogspot.com

I even joined two groups on goodreads.com – a non-fiction reading group and a classics group to help inspire me! However, I’m still reading the same non-fiction book I began at the start of January, and have yet to start my classics choice Treasure Island (chosen by recommendation thanks to Monica).

I’m still reading And the Mountains Echoed, the new Khaled Hosseini book, three weeks later. I started to read the book with Jill so we could talk about it. Well, she’s done and I’m still halfway through… I like the book… The story is good, characters interesting. Why can’t I focus?

I can read for entire flights though, nearly completing entire books! Maybe I just need this…

kotaku.com

kotaku.com

Mostly :)y Weekend

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My weekend was really quite satisfyingly relaxing and moderately productive which made me pretty happy. But of course amidst the happiness, there were a couple of thumbs down moments which is bound to happen with so many people living in the same space as I do. And I have to say, my thumbs down moments are pretty lame. That’s why I can’t and won’t really even file them as complaints because no one was injured, thankfully, only minimally traumatized.

Weekend smile 🙂 moments: 

– good run Saturday morning

– started watching New Girl from the beginning which made both my husband and I laugh

– finished reading my book

– nice weather on Saturday

– made a decision about the appropriate curtain rods we needed for the windows (which I had been putting off for months), bought them AND put them up

– cleaning nooks and crannies

– cooked a yumm-alicious dinner for hubby

– got a call from a special friend

Weekend thumbs-down moments:

– scarred by the ridiculously expensive and mediocre breakfast at Ben Ash after my great run (booooo!)

– near collision on the CitiBike by a delivery guy speeding around a corner into the bike lane and another dude going the wrong way in the bike lane (I hate – and rarely do I use that word – but I hate bikers who break the rules of the road!!!)

– lots of dog poop on the sidewalk (grrrrr!)

Words of advice to myself and others who get annoyed by these little moments:

– take a breath

– think of something to smile about 🙂

– be thankful for those who make you happy

 If you haven’t smiled about something today, there’s something wrong with you. Turn that frown upside down.

Go out and get a cupcake. Come on, who doesn’t love cupcakes 😉

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