I’d love to be more of an avid reader. It’s like my “who I want to be” goal but I don’t always achieve it. For 2018 I set a goal of reading 10 books. I totally failed. I read 5.5. But I’m okay with it. I strive to be better and I’m going to set the same goal this year and see if I can get closer. (Note: I learned in The Tech-Wise Family to set up my surroundings so they are conducive to what you want to accomplish – so in this new house a reading nook is in order!)

The books I chose this year were largely part of the same theme – simplifying yourself, your life, and your surroundings. I no doubt chose these because of the year I had prior to it. My husband left for a deployment when I was about 5 months pregnant with our second kiddo, and while he was gone I parented our challenging then-1-yr-old, separated from the Air Force, and gave birth to a baby girl. (Side story: his commander let him come home for the birth for 10 days, which was incredible.) A few weeks after he came back from deployment, I took my 2 month old and toddler on a plane across the Atlantic to spend the next 5 months with my mom, who ultimately passed away in March.

I’m not here to complain –  just painting an accurate picture of how c-r-a-z-y life has been, and why I felt so very drawn to these books.

Even before the crazy year and a half happened I’d been on a “simplify your life” kick. I’m big into sustainability not only in the “save the planet” sense, but also in the “sustain yourself” sense. The first book I read on the subject was The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I didn’t read it this year, but it’s too perfect for this topic to not review here!

This book is truly life changing. It takes everything you thought about purging all your crap and takes it to a whole new level. The author’s premise for deciding if you’re going to keep something or not isn’t “Do I use this?” or “Does this fit me?” Instead she asks “Does this bring me joy?” How many times have you gone through your closet trying things on, and if it fits you are like “Great, keep pile!” You figure since it “fits” it works and is useful, so keep it. But do you LOVE it? Does it bring you joy to own it and to wear it? Same thing for the seven sets of markers you have. Do they bring you joy? Or do you just use them from time to time? Does having seven sets bring you more joy than just having one? It’s an intriguing concept that resonated with me and made me want to go through the entire house immediately! It took me a minute to get my husband on board, but it’s something we tried hard to enact when we moved this summer. They say a home free of clutter frees your mind to worry about other things – IMPORTANT things. The essential things (and it’s so true).

Which leads me to the second book I’ve read on streamlining your life: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. LOVED this book. It’s a little broader and easier to implement than the Art of Tidying Up, mostly because a lot of it is a mindset shift rather than physical work. With all the life events that have happened lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what is truly important in life – specifically what is important to ME. What do I want to focus on? What do I want to do with my life? A good portion of the book related to working and business relationships, but it can be applied to all aspects of your life. An office setting is such a great example for the author, as there is often tons of perceived wasted time – whether it be unnecessary meetings or trivial projects or whatnot. The book talks about saying no to trivial endeavors, and to things that are not directly related to your goals.

More topics this book touches on are:

• Making trade-offs (you can’t really “have it all,” but you can have what is truly important to you)
• Saying “no”
• Not worrying about other people or putting their goals before yours

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck takes not worrying about other people to another level. I’m sure you’ve heard the advice not to care about what other people think, just do you, etc. Turns out you can take this concept, apply to your work and personal life, and still be successful on all fronts. This book and Essentialism both talked at length about saying “no” and why we should say no a lot of the time. It ensures you are doing productive things that you enjoy and do well, and also ensures that your time is valued and respected. The author’s concept of “not giving a f*ck” is essentially not caring about what other people think of you, what other people want you to do, and setting boundaries. As you can tell by the title, he says this all in a blunt and humorous way (which I definitely enjoy).

The last book on this topic was one I didn’t realize was actually in this genre. I read The Tech-Wise Family because, as a mother to a toddler who was very preoccupied with crazy life events, we were watching a LOT of TV – and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it but I felt trapped in it because I was exhausted and desperate. To be clear – I am also understanding of the situation I was in. I knew that it wasn’t going to be forever, but I also knew that it was a very formative time for my 1.5 yr old. So I read this book and got a lot more out of it than I bargained for. Some things that really stood out to me were:

• Creating your home into a space that is conducive to the type of lifestyle you are trying to achieve. Don’t want to watch a lot of TV? Don’t put the TV in the main living area (or don’t have one at all, if that’s the level you’re on). Want your kids to read a lot? Make a functional and cozy library, or keep books in your living area that are easy to access.
• Create a family mission statement. I am very familiar with mission statements from my 8+ years in the military, but I never considered having one for my family. BUT IT’S BRILLIANT, guys. Life with toddlers (and kids in general, or just life in general) is hectic and sometimes you find yourself making decisions too quickly, rashly or inconsistently. Having a vision or mission statement sets the tone for how you want to live your life/raise your family. Every decision you make can be referred back to that statement – you can ask yourself “Is what I am doing supporting my vision for my lifestyle and/or family?” If the answer is no, then it’s clear that you need to change course.
• Boredom for kids. This wasn’t the first place I had heard that boredom actually encourages creativity in children. It’s a simple but profound concept. Forcing your kids to play freely sometimes encourages them to think creatively about what they are doing. Kind of like building a tower with blocks vs just playing with a structure that is already made. So many times I gave in (and still do) to the “easy” fixes of a baby show on Netflix when I could have just waited out 10 minutes of whining for my kid to find something else to do. (This happens! Often times I physically leave the play room so I’m out of the picture, and within 5 minutes they will stop whining for The Lion King and find something else to entertain themselves with.)

I also ready Emily Ley’s book, A Simplified Life, which was written succinctly and offered great tips on decluttering, organizing, and routines. Her book was more specifically geared towards life with children, which was good for me personally.

Outside the “simplicity” genre, I also re-read A Wrinkle in Time (although I didn’t watch the movie yet!) and Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen (I have a wives of Henry VIII thing). Both I would recommend 🙂

So I will try again for 10 books in 2019! You can check out my Goodreads list in the right side menu of this website. We’ll see how far we get this time 🙂

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