Self-Isolation Chronicles: Life After Four Weeks at Home

As of yesterday, I’ve officially been self-isolating for four weeks. I’ve left the house a total of two times - both quick trips to get groceries. Here’s a little background for you: my mum and I share an apartment. She’s retired (she’ll be 80 in a couple of weeks, which puts her in one of the most susceptible age groups for Covid-19) and I work from home. We don’t have a car so we normally travel by bus. Our city’s bus system is decent; it has its issues and annoyances like any other mode of public transit, but it gets us where we need to go. It can be difficult hauling groceries home, but we’ve been doing it for a long time. Near the beginning of March, I saw a lot of my friends in the UK talking about how bad things were getting there. The virus was spreading and so was the panic. People were emptying shelves of food and, of course, toilet paper. Will we ever get over the whole toilet paper thing? It honestly boggles my mind and I’m still hearing people say it’s scarce in a lot of places. Anyway, seeing this on a daily basis made me realize it was only a matter of time before the same thing happened here. My mum and I decided to make as many trips as necessary to get stocked up on supplies so we could avoid taking the bus if things got really bad. We made a total of three trips in the first two weeks of March, with the last one being Friday the 13th. By then, the panic was spreading here and people were beginning to stockpile. I had seen pictures and videos online and on TV of crowds of shoppers and empty shelves, but it was incredibly sobering to see it in person. I was grateful I’d had the foresight to start stocking up the week before because I knew that Friday would be our last trip before going into isolation. I want to note that while we stocked up on essentials, we didn’t stockpile; not only is there only so much the two of us can carry home on the bus, there's are also only so much storage in our two-bedroom apartment. For the first week and a bit, I was in a near-constant anxiety spiral. I pretty much lived on Twitter, reading news from around the world and stories of how people were coping - or not coping. I quickly learned I was far from alone in my inability to concentrate on anything. The countless other creatives who said they were unable to focus on work made me feel marginally better. I wanted to get off Twitter and do something - anything - and yet I’d get stuck in a loop and suddenly huge chunks of time had gone by and I couldn’t account for any of it. Reading the news was upsetting and heartbreaking, and left me feeling like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Between my anxiety and my empathic nature, it was all so overwhelming. Add to that the fact I wasn’t writing or doing anything work-related, and I was a wreck.

The view from my balcony. Wishing on all the stars these days.

It took me about two weeks to wean myself off Twitter. Now I’m on it about as much as I was pre-pandemic. I still haven’t done much writing, but I’m back to reading, which is a huge relief because it’s a great escape. One of the weirdest things about this whole situation is that in the grand scheme of things, my life isn’t that much different now than it usually is. I work from home and I don’t have much of a social life. The only people I typically see regularly (besides my mum, of course) are my brother and my youngest nephew and niece (who I'm currently missing like crazy; their absence is one of the hardest parts of all this). The majority of my friends are online and are scattered all over the world, and my best friend lives out of town so I’m used to not seeing her for months at a time. And yet everything feels different. I think it’s the uncertainty and the fear; not knowing how long we’ll be in isolation, and also being afraid of somehow catching the virus or someone we know and love getting sick. It’s knowing this has affected the entire world, and so many are suffering.
I’m ever hopeful I’ll be able to get back to writing regularly, but I’m slowly learning not to be so hard on myself. I keep seeing people saying ‘this is not normal working from home, this is working from home during a pandemic - it’s not the same’. The thing is, my anxiety often manifests as guilt, and I was feeling a lot of guilt those first couple of weeks. I constantly felt like I should be doing something productive and using this time wisely, but it just wasn’t happening. I told so many other people not to be too hard on themselves, but found it difficult to extend that same compassion to myself. I’m slowly getting better at it. Now I’m concentrating on the things that bring me joy and provide a distraction. Some of them make me feel productive and others don’t - both are valid. The two routines I’ve managed to maintain through all of this are my daily French lesson on Duolingo and my daily step goal. What’s helped with that last one is having an ongoing weekday competition on Fitbit with my best friend and her siblings, in-laws, and a couple of friends. We started around the beginning of the year and have kept it up every week. We've all been doing fewer steps the last two weeks, but we’re still going, and I know for me it’s a huge motivator because it keeps me accountable. I’ve been cooking a lot lately. I’ve always been the main cook in my home and I swing between loving it and doing it out of necessity. I’d lost a lot of interest in it before all this, but since being isolated, my passion has been rekindled. One night my mum pointed out it was likely because I had more time, and I realized she was right; I’d normally work all day, stop to cook and eat, then often go back to work for a bit. It was a chore. Now it’s nothing for me to spend up to an hour in the kitchen every evening, and I’ve gotten back into experimenting and having fun with cooking again.

One of my favourite creations so far; click here to find out what's in it

Talking to friends has been a huge help through all this. I swear I spend half the day sending memes, pictures, and various funny things to my two closest friends. We still vent and talk about the things bothering us, but we always make sure to keep each other laughing too. I've also been chatting a lot more with people on Twitter and Instagram; it's been nice having the chance to grow closer to people I already cared about and to make some new friends too. We really are all in this together and it's important to remember that.
I'm keeping myself entertained with books, Instagram, and Schitt’s Creek. I’ve been gravitating toward the light and funny, and Schitt’s Creek is perfect for that. I guess I’d been living under a rock because I don’t remember really even hearing about the show until late last year. I started watching it a few weeks ago and it’s exactly the type of thing I need right now - hilarious, ridiculous, and heartfelt. I also absolutely love the fact it’s filmed in Canada and features almost an entirely Canadian cast. As for reading, my lack of concentration affected my reading for awhile but I’m back to it now, thank goodness. I’m all about the light and funny with books too, and I’ve been recommending tons of my favourites on bookstagram lately. I have a few blog posts with book recommendations planned too, so stay tuned for those!

How are you dealing with everything? How has life changed for you since all this began? What's been bringing you joy and keeping you sane through this?

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Reminiscing About Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and Thoughts on Why the Fire That Nearly Destroyed the Historical Landmark Touched People Worldwide

All photographs in this post are courtesy of my best friend, Krista Van Staalduinen, from our trip to Paris in June 2015, and have been used with her permission

Yesterday afternoon when I opened Facebook and saw the news that Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was on fire, my heart sank. I hoped it was a minor fire and the pompiers (firefighters) in Paris would be able to put it out. But as the afternoon wore on and my social media feeds filled with pictures and videos of the raging fire, that sick feeling in my stomach grew. Notre Dame was burning in earnest; 800+ years of history was literally going up in flames. Now because there are always ignorant, negative people on social media, I had the displeasure of seeing someone make the comment, “But it’s only a building. Be glad nobody died.” Of course everyone is glad nobody died; it’s an absolute miracle nobody was killed. And, yes, okay, it is technically just a building and you can’t equate that with the loss of human life. But it’s so much more than ‘just a building’. For centuries, Notre Dame has been a symbol of Paris. A symbol of art, architecture, history, religion, and culture. It has survived the French Revolution and two World Wars. You don’t have to be Catholic - or even Christian - to appreciate its beauty and rich history. Those things, paired with the fact it seemed like one of those monuments that would be around forever, are part of what makes this such a devastating tragedy for people all over the world. Whether you’ve been to Notre Dame, hoped to go there someday, or you’re indifferent, this is a loss felt by the whole world.

I had the pleasure of visiting Notre Dame twice. My first time was in 2001; I was 17, and it was my first trip abroad. It was a whirlwind ten days of history and art and food and freedom. We saw ancient buildings and priceless art and so many things that left me speechless, but I remember being in complete awe when we walked into Notre Dame. It was swarming with people, and yet there was this hushed sort of reverence inside as people wandered around or sat in the pews or lit candles.

I vividly remember stopping in front of the statue of Joan of Arc and feeling this rush of emotions that brought tears to my eyes. I had just done a school project on the saint and felt this strange affinity to her; I had gone above and beyond on my project, reading everything I could get my hands on (and these were the days when there wasn’t much to be found online, so I think I checked out nearly every book from my library that so much as referenced her). Even though it was just a statue, it was like history coming alive in front of me and making it more real. Another special moment was when I lit a candle in memory of my dad, who died in 1994, and whose family originated in France.

My second trip to Paris, and to Notre Dame, was in 2015. Our time in Paris was cut short after an issue at the border in Callais, France (it was closed due to riots and strikes, so we were stuck in Dover, England for a day, unable to cross the Channel until the border reopened). That meant we only had about two full days in Paris, but we were determined to make the most of it and see as much as possible. I knew for sure that despite having seen it 14 years before, I wanted to see Notre Dame again. It had made a real impression on me, and I wanted my travelling companion/bestie, Krista - a fellow lover of art, history, and architecture - to see it. I can honestly say it was just as awe-inspiring the second time. Tragedies like this show us that nothing - not even the things that seem indestructible and eternal - lasts forever. Just because something has stood the test of time, as Notre Dame did for hundreds of years, doesn’t mean it can or will forever. A friend messaged me yesterday and told me how much she regretted skipping a visit to the cathedral during both her visits to Paris because of the long lines, assuming she’d visit it next time. I saw other people sharing the same sentiment on social media yesterday and this morning. Because that's the thing, right? We all think we have time. Time to see and do the things we want, especially when it comes to seeing the things that have always been there and you assume always will be. When I think of my last trip to Europe, one thing that often comes to mind is the number of times we had to wait in line. The first instance was our visit to the Tower of London. Krista and I wanted to see the Crown Jewels, but the people we were with didn’t want to ‘waste time’ in line. Krista and I looked at each other and agreed that we hadn’t travelled thousands of miles to let something like a line stop us from seeing something we wanted - and had paid a lot of money - to see. So we got ourselves some ice cream from a nearby vendor and we waited in line, taking pictures, talking, and laughing all the while. That moment set a precedence for us: if there was something we wanted to see, screw the lines. It happened again several times throughout our travels (the most memorable being the hour we spent in the blazing Italian sun while waiting to enter St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican), including when we visited Notre Dame. We had a limited amount of time to squeeze in everything we wanted to do, but it was a beautiful day, so even though the lines stretched all the way to the end of the square, we joined the queue. Now I’m so grateful we did.

We hear about ‘gentle reminders’ all the time these days. ‘Just sending a gentle reminder to get your entries in for X by tonight’ or a ‘gentle reminder to practise self-care’. Well, let this horrible event serve as a not-so-gentle reminder. Do the things you want to do. See the things you want to see. I know it’s not always that simple, believe me. If I could hop on a plane to Europe right now I would, but it’s not possible right this moment. But whenever possible, even if it may make you a little uncomfortable, even if it means stepping outside your comfort zone (hell, especially if it means stepping outside your comfort zone), even if it takes time, even if it means waiting in a huge line, do the things you want to do. Don’t assume you can ‘do it next time’ because there might not be a next time. Let this also serve as an everyday reminder: Take chances. Do the things you love to do, as often and as joyfully as you can. Appreciate the good people in your life. Make sure the people you love know how you feel about them. See and do as much as you can, because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

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2018: A Year in Review

Happy New Year!

I’ve been sick for over a week (this is actually Round 2 with the Cold From Hell in the last month), and instead of continuing to go full-tilt like I normally do, I’ve taken the time to rest and relax, plus reflect on the past year and plan for the year ahead. One thing I know for sure going into the new year: I need to be more mindful. It was something I intended to work on in 2018, but now when I look back and so much of the year was a blur, I realize the life of intention and mindfulness I wanted to lead turned into a big jumbled mass of days with a few highlights in between. Despite that, unlike the last several years, I can look back and say 2018 was mostly good.

Here are a few of the highlights of 2018:

I wrote and published a new contemporary romance, ONLY YOU, plus worked on a few other projects. I thought 2018 would be the year I finally got back into the swing of writing and publishing, but it was still a struggle. I’m proud of what I did accomplish though, and I love this sweet, funny, sexy romance.

In June, I met one of my favourite authors, Susanna Kearsley. My mum and I have been big fans of hers for years, so I was excited we could share that experience. Susanna was so lovely, warm, and funny, and I had a total fangirl moment when she immediately recognized me and came over to hug us and speak to us. She spoke for an hour or so about writing, publishing, and researching, and then signed books. If you follow me on bookstagram, you'll recognize Foxy, my little felt fox in the picture below; I brought him along and Susanna didn't bat an eye when I asked if he could be included in one of our pictures. It made me love her even more!

I didn’t travel far in 2018, but I did get to go to one of my absolute favourite cities (Kingston, Ontario) twice to visit my friend Krista. It was hot as hell when I visited in July, but we had so much fun playing tourist, eating a ton of amazing food, and vegging at her apartment. One of the highlights was visiting Queen’s University while it was completely deserted and getting to wander around and take a bunch of pictures. My trip in November was equally amazing, especially because we got to attend a Victorian Christmas tea; we’d wanted to do a high tea when we visited London in 2015 but didn’t have time, so this was amazing. The November trip was an early 35th birthday celebration for me since my birthday is so close to Christmas and I rarely get to do anything out of the ordinary. Both trips and all the new memories I made with Krista are high on my list of best days of 2018.

Bookstagram continued to be a huge source of joy for me. I’ve made so many wonderful friends there, and I love the creative outlet it gives me. Two major highlights this year: being chosen as a July rep for Canterbury Road Co and recently being asked to be a rep for 1107Studio. I love these companies (and their respective owners) and it’s such an honour to get to represent them.

Looking ahead at 2019...

I have a lot of writing-related goals this year. I'm currently working on a companion book to ONLY YOU, and after that, there will be one more book in that standalone series. I also have a romcom I wrote year before last that I plan to edit and publish toward the end of the year. I've also been thinking about mixing things up and working on something different from my norm...but it's early days yet, so you'll have to stay tuned to see what I'm talking about!

I read 105 books in 2018, and my goal for 2019 is to read at least 80 books.

I want to be more consistent about blogging. After 8 years of having this blog, I finally bit the bullet just before writing this post and officially bought a .com domain for it. No more .blogspot.com for me! Hopefully that'll inspire me to do something with this little of the net and produce more content. My goal is going to be at least one post a week, ranging from bookish and writing posts to travel posts to general lifestyle posts.

I don't have any concrete plans yet, but I decided last year that 2019 is the year I'm finally going to Scotland. Stay tuned for more as I figure out the how and when and all that fun stuff. I'm going to make it happen!
My word for 2019 is CONNECT. I want to connect to my self - be more mindful, intentional, and work on a lot of personal things that are important to me. That also includes connecting to my body and working on getting healthier and stronger. I want to connect to readers, both old and new, and make them laugh, feel, and fall in love when they read my stories. I want to connect to my roots by finally visiting Scotland. I want to connect to nature and not spend so much time at my desk. I feel good about this word because it's broad and it covers a lot, but it can be specific in a million little ways that mean a lot to me.

How was 2018 for you? What were some of your stand-out moments? Do you have any goals or big plans for 2019? Do you have a word for the year?

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Previous Yearly Recaps:
☆2017: A Year in Review
☆2016: A Year in Review
☆Looking Back on 2015
☆Reflecting on 2014 and Looking at the Year Ahead 
☆2012: A Year in Review
☆2010: A Year in Review

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Thoughts on Finishing the First Draft of my Tenth Book

This past Saturday, I wrote ‘The End’ on my tenth novel. *throws confetti* If you’ve been following along for awhile, you’ll likely know I’ve had a lot of setbacks in the last few years. My last full-length novel, Something in the Air, was released in November of 2015, and even getting to that point was a struggle. Shortly after that, a lot of crap happened in my family that basically turned my life upside down. I lost my motivation, I lost my drive, and there were times when I honestly felt like I'd lose my mind. I worked away at different projects, but had trouble focusing on anything, plus my writing time was much more limited than it was previously. Depression and anxiety were basically the cherry on the shit sundae. I knew I couldn’t give up, though. I love writing and have always loved writing, even when writing didn’t necessarily love me. I would have bursts of creativity where I’d write for a few days in a row, thinking 'maybe this is finally it, maybe I'm getting my mojo back', and then not touch that project again for days or even weeks. But I kept going. I believed things would get better. I tried to stay positive even when it felt like there wasn’t much to be positive about. I used to be able to write a book in a matter of months. My personal best was two weeks in 2012, when I wrote Waiting for the Storm. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do that again, and I’m not entirely sure I want to; while that book is my personal favourite and the book that’s closest to my heart, it was also fueled by grief and my need to keep myself afloat and not drown in my own sorrow. That being said, I’d love to return to the days when I was able to write a book in one to three months, and that pride in having a daily (or almost daily) writing routine. So many things have been out of my control in the last two and a half years, but when I wrote ‘The End’ on my latest novel, I felt like I got some control back. Some of the issues that prevented me from writing are still present, and my mental health issues are still...well, an issue...but I’ve proven to myself something I’ve always known: I can do anything I put my mind to. I’m strong, I’m capable. I'm resilient. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m ready. I’m actually excited to dive into edits and start a marketing plan for this book. Want to know more about the project I’ve been working on? *It doesn’t have a title yet. Yesterday I realized the book needed an epilogue (the MC kept telling me something that happened a few months later!). When I wrote the final line, I decided there was a possible title in there, but I need to give it some more thought. *The main character is Ivy Sima, who was first introduced in my 2017 Christmas novella Mistletoe Kiss as the main character Bridget's best friend. Bridget gets a fair bit of page time in this book, but it can definitely be read as a standalone. *The love interest is Scottish. And swoony. And I love him a whole lot. *The story started out as a Christmas novella, but morphed into something completely different. It takes place around Christmas, but isn’t a Christmas-y story. It ended up being a full-length novel at just over 83K words. *I’ve been calling it a romcom, but I need my beta readers to tell me if it’s actually funny enough to call it a romcom, haha! If not, it’ll be categorized as Contemporary Romance. *Tentative release date is November 13th, 2018. In the next few weeks, I’ll share more info about the book, including the title and synopsis. I’ll also be putting out a call for beta readers, reviewers, and people who are willing to help with the cover reveal and other promo. Watch the blog, along with my bookstagram account for more information. 

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2017: A Year in Review

I just read 2016’s recap and ugh. Emotional. I spent a lot of 2016 in a very dark place; by the end of the year, I was seeing things in a different light after a lot of self-reflection, but it’s still really painful to read. For 2017, I’m doing something different: I’m going to focus on the good parts of the year and do a highlights/best of. 2017 wasn’t all sunshine and roses by any means. A lot of the things I struggled with in 2016 carried into 2017, but I want to focus on the good parts. The things - and the people - who made me happy and made it a memorable year. So here we go!

My Mum and The Littles
Every single day spent with my mum is a day I consider myself truly blessed. She’s not only an amazing mother, she’s the best friend a girl could ask for. We have so much fun living together, and even the most mundane task (like grocery shopping and hauling tons of bags home on the bus - blech) can turn into an adventure.

Then there’s the Littles (my youngest niece and nephew, 4 and 7 respectively). They brought so much joy and laughter to our lives in 2017, as they’ve done since the day they were born. Those two tiny humans are so incredibly intelligent, creative, imaginative, hilarious, and sweet. I cherish every snuggle, every funny/sweet/ridiculously smart thing they say, and every memory we make together. I’m so lucky I get to spent so many days with them drawing and colouring, snuggling, playing games, watching movies, and going on adventures around our neighbourhood.

Writing
In 2016’s recap, I wrote this: “Professionally, 2016 was a joke. All the crap going on in my life took up so much time and energy at the beginning of the year, I basically had to put my career on hold.” I wish I could say I spent 2017 writing my heart out, but there were still quite a few distractions, and my lack of motivation carried through the year. BUT...I did write a Christmas novella at the beginning of the year, which I published in November, and I finished writing the romantic comedy I started writing the year before. That feels like a huge accomplishment, especially considering I felt like such a failure after 2016.

Mistletoe Kiss was the first new book I’d published in two whole years, and the response to it was better than I could have hoped for. I talked about how I was afraid people had forgotten me and I had become irrelevant in the publishing game, but the support I received was overwhelming (in the best way possible). I owe a lot of this to the bookstagram community, and a good chunk of my sales I owe to my childhood best friend, author Athena Wright, who mentioned the book in one of her newsletters, which prompted dozens of people to buy it. (*insert me crying like a baby*) I have a lot of writing plans for 2018, and I sincerely hope I get such an enthusiastic response for those projects as well!


Travel
I didn’t make it too far from home this year, but I did take an amazing trip to Toronto with my friend Krista. We got to explore Cabbagetown (a gorgeous part of Toronto I’d never seen before), and we shopped at the Eaton Centre and Curiosa (the second being somewhere I wanted to go from the moment I heard about it but figured I’d never actually get to go...also, I still have to write about our experience and what we bought there. I mean it's only been, like, two and a half months since we visited *facepalm*). The ultimate highlight of that trip: attending Jacquelyn Middleton’s launch party for her sophomore novel London, Can You Wait? Held at the Wickson Social, Jackie’s party exceeded all my expectations. Amazing food and drink, fun people, and meeting Jackie in personal after a year of being friends online was one of the high points of 2017. Plus it was great to spend two whole days with Krista since we didn’t get to see each other much last year.

Blog Highlights
Some of my most popular posts in 2017:
Writing and Publishing: 
☆5 Things I’ve Learned in 5 Years of Publishing
☆6 Mistakes Authors Make and How to Avoid Them
☆7 Things Every Author Should Have on Their Website 
☆Instagram for Authors: Everything Authors Need to Know About Using Instagram
☆Everything Authors Need to Know About Beta Readers
☆5 Tips for Surviving NaNoWriMo

Book Recommendation Posts:
☆Books Set in England
☆Books Set in France
☆Books Set in Italy
☆LGBTQ+ Books
☆Book Recommendations for Romance Lovers

All the Rest 
☆I spent some super fun days with my friend JaimeKristal while she was home between travels. She arrived back in town in November 2016 after 2 years of living in London, and left again in August 2017, this time for 2 years in Ireland. In the months we had together, we went to a Harry Potter event at Chapters, saw a local production of Pride and Prejudice, had a fancy tea party, watched the Canada Day fireworks by the bay, and spent hours chatting, watching movies, and shopping (mostly for books and Funko Pops, naturally). I enjoyed my time with her so much and was sad to see her go, especially since I’d initially hoped to go with her. It puts a lump in my throat just thinking about it, so I won’t get into it again, but I talked all about it in a post called Pity Party: Table of One. This wasn’t an easy post to write, but the response I got to it made me feel so much better, and the embarrassment and shame I felt over potentially coming across as a whiner was completely washed away by the support I got.

☆I saw my college best friend Missy for the first time in almost ten years. We spent the day with our mums and her three kids at the park. It was an unexpectedly emotional experience seeing her again after so long, and we unpacked a lot of baggage and reminisced about our college days, plus caught up on a lot of current news.

☆I read a lot of great books in 2017. Added several new favourite books to my shelves, and discovered new authors. I hit my GoodReads goal of 85 books read in 2017 (completed this goal 2 hours before midnight on the 31st!). If you’re looking for some recommendations to kick off 2018, I shared my 17 favourite books of 2017 as my last post of the year.

☆Bookstagram continued to be a great source of pleasure for me. I’ve made so many friends in that community, and I love that I get to share my passion for books there, and that I can be my nerdy self. It’s also been an absolute joy to continue being a rep for NerdyGrlDesigns (who’s in the process of moving from an Etsy shop to a standalone webite, which is why I linked her Instagram rather than the shop; you can keep an eye out there for updates) and seeing Melisa branch out and turn her business into a thriving one, plus she created a Society6 shop with her designs. I also co-hosted my first ever photo challenge in December with my wonderful friend Caryn, which exceeded all my hopes and expectations. We had so much fun, we’re hosting another challenge for January. I also had a lot of fun with my personal/author/blog Instagram in 2017. I posted there more consistently and created more of a focus for my feed. I did most of this with the help of Helene Sula’s blog, Instagram, and her course Instagram for Success. Her tips and advice helped me more than double my following on my personal account, and I’m continuing to grow and learn and improve slowly but surely, as well as apply those things to my bookstagram account. Let me just say, one thing that was a massive game changer for me: Lightroom.

☆I changed the direction of this blog from a book blog to a more general blog...but still with an emphasis on books! I know some people say having a niche is important and there are all these things you ‘should and shouldn’t do’ on your blog, but you know what? Screw that. I want to talk about what I want to talk about. I want to help other writers (especially those who choose to self-publish like me), I want to gush about books, I want to talk about travel and photography and life, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I basically just want to be my nerdy, quirky self, and hope I find other nerdy, quirky people who will appreciate what I have to say.

So, that’s my 2017 in a nutshell - the good parts, at least. It was a year of ups and downs, as most years are, but it was certainly better than 2016! I have a lot planned for 2018, which I’ll talk about in an upcoming post. Watch for that soon!

What were some of the highlights for you in 2017? Did you travel? Read some great books? Start a new hobby? Have great things happen in your personal life? I’d love to know! Tell me in the comments below, and if you posted a yearly recap, feel free to leave a link so I can check it out. Wishing you a wonderful 2018 full of laughter, light, hope, and love.

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Previous Yearly Recaps:
☆2016: A Year in Review
☆Looking Back on 2015
☆Reflecting on 2014 and Looking at the Year Ahead 
☆2012: A Year in Review
☆2010: A Year in Review

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Why It’s Important to Take Pleasure in the Little Things

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, so I thought it was the perfect time to talk about some of the things I’m grateful for, and why I think it’s important now more than ever to take pleasure in and be grateful for the little things in life. I’ve talked before about how the last two years have been difficult for my family and me, and I don’t think I need to go into details about the state of the world. Through all the crap that’s happened, though, I’ve learned to be even more grateful than ever for what I do have.

Lately, I’ve seen many people online talking about feeling a lot of guilt over talking about simple or ‘frivolous’ things, or promoting their books/businesses/blogs while the world seemingly falls apart. I understand that guilt and feel it myself, but the sad truth is, there’s something happening almost daily anymore. It’s easy to get bogged down in the negative, scary things in the world, but we can’t stop living or loving. It’s important to acknowledge the things happening and to fight for change, spread awareness, and show sympathy, but it’s also important to at least try to continue living a somewhat normal life. To take pleasure where you can get it, find the light in all this darkness. There’s nothing wrong with needing an escape from reality and a break from the seemingly never-ending stream of bad news. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about the state of the world.

Here are some of the things I’m grateful for this year, the things I’ve been using as an escape and taking pleasure in when the real world becomes too much.

My family

My mum is my best friend, and she’s the greatest friend anyone could ask for. She’s my sidekick, my confidante, and my favourite person in the world. I’m so blessed to get to spend so much time with her. I also spend a lot of time with my youngest nephew and niece, AKA The Littles. They’re with us most weekends, and we’re all about adventures, tea parties, movies, fun photo shoots, and much more. Every single week they teach me more about patience, unconditional love and understanding, and the importance of having an open mind and being flexible. My 4-year-old niece is a serious badass - strong, fierce, sassy, funny, imaginative, incredibly intelligent - and I’m fostering all of that in her as much as possible because it’s more important now than ever to raise girls to become strong women.

Books

Books have always been an escape and a constant companion for me. Currently romcoms are my jam, and I can’t get enough. A few of my recent favourites: the Castle Calder series by Brenda St John Brown, The Chateau of Happily Ever Afters by Jaimie Admans, Mister Hockey by Lia Riley, and Ten Days With the Highlander by Hayson Manning. I also love books set in my favourite places, especially London. A few of my recent favourites are London Belongs to Me by Jacquelyn Middleton, London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning, and Act Like It by Lucy Parker.

Friends

Besides my mum, my closest friend is Krista. We’ve been friends since first grade, and have been through so much together. We’ve drifted apart a few times over the years, but we always come back together, leading us both to believe we’re meant to be in each other’s lives. I’m grateful for our talks, ranging from philosophical to silly to all things nerdy/fandom-related and everything in between. I also have some wonderful online friends, who I’ve met through blogging, writing, Twitter, and most recently Bookstagram and Instagram. Speaking of Instagram, I’m also thankful for the creative outlet it provides; it challenges me to be more creative and up my photography game, and it brings me so much pleasure. The community, especially the bookish community is so warm, welcoming, and supportive.

A few recent small pleasures

U2’s new song and music video (basically a love letter to NYC) You’re the Best Thing About Me. Taking up knitting again after many years away from it and starting by making a present for a friend. Rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time in years.

No matter how bad things are, it’s important to find positive things, things to be happy about, things to celebrate. Continuing to live your life doesn’t make you a bad person and it doesn’t mean you don’t care about people’s suffering. Something else that’s important to remember: it’s not selfish to practice self-care or take social media breaks if it means maintaining your sanity. You don’t need to be ‘on’ all the time. Take pleasure where you can get it and be grateful for all the good things in your life and in the world.

What are you grateful for this year? What small things have you taken pleasure in lately? Do you ever feel the guilt I mentioned?

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