This post contains affiliate links for some great books. I would only promote things I have personally bought (or got as Christmas presents), that I am currently reading, getting a good vibe about, and would recommend to my friends in real life.
Chrimbo Limbo – Waiting for the New Year
I often find myself wanting to take down all of the Christmas decorations on Boxing Day. The skeleton face my youngest insisted on hanging from it has already been given a new home in his bedroom.
As I get the 26th of December off work, it feels like a waste to not spend it clearing up the place and putting away all of the new items we have received for Christmas.
It was with much gratitude that I noticed that a great number of my gifts were either useful or beautiful – or in some instances both – so I have not had to do something that I am sure is actively frowned upon in polite society… I haven’t had to put a lot of unwanted gifts in my ‘re-gifting’ box.
This probably needs a bit of an explanation. My desire for a minimalist idyll has been well documented on this website, and as such, I have a low tolerance – bordering on the ungrateful – for tat and ‘joke’ gifts.
Luckily I have done really well this year, partly because I bought 80% of my own presents, and the ones I didn’t were toiletries, food, books and clothes. So they were all things that can be used, eaten, read and worn.
What 2019 meant for me
Despite having ticked off a major trip from the Kettle List, and starting my TEFL, which will form a massive part of my future plan, I always end the year with the niggling feeling that I could have done more. That I could have tried a bit harder to get more done and spent less time playing on my phone and watching Netflix.
In the final months of this year, I have been trying to fully utilise ‘time blocking’ and be more self-reflective on what I am spending my time on. It is dangerously easy for me to find myself going off on a tangent, so once again my ‘Word for 2020’ will be ‘Focus’. I need to start being more self-aware about what is working and what isn’t.
There are so many tasks that I could fill my time with: I want to declutter the house, I want to become better at Japanese, I want to spend more time writing…
But I also need to spend time being purposely ‘unbusy’; I need t learn how to fully relax and be present in the moment I am in, not already planning what I will do next, often before I have even finished what I am currently doing.
This is where a few of my Christmas presents may come in handy.
My Christmas books – Self-care, Stress relief and Stoicism
My Fiction books for 2020
Books are always a good idea as a present for me, although that being said it is sometimes hard to find one I haven’t got or already read. Particularly as I tend to limit my reading niche.
Although I received mainly self-help and simple living books, I did get one fiction book from Rin called Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. As the name of the author suggests, this book is Japanese, as has been most of the fiction I managed to complete this year (namely, Audition by Ryu Murakami and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami).
The book gives me such a quintessentially Japanese vibe, and the protagonist Keiko is so quirky, yet strangely relatable, that I was able to read it in two sessions and update my 2019 Goodreads list final count to 13 out of 25.
Goodreads is an app/website that lets you check out what other people are reading and recommending. You can have a look here. There is also a list to the right if you are on desktop, or at the bottom of the page if you are on a mobile of my current books.
It has been a welcome change, as I rarely read fiction. This year I have also found myself enjoying the Ben Aaronvitch series starting with ‘Rivers of London‘. I have managed to obtain the next two books and will be reading these in January, so hopefully, I will be reaching my target of 25 books, which I sadly did not pass this year.
My habit of starting a book and then moving to another is a poor example of the “Focus” I want my life to be about, so I guess I should finish all of the books I am halfway through, and maybe then look at starting new ones. I guess I just like keeping my options open.
Self-care and Stress Relief
Not sure if it is a vibe I am giving out, but I was bought a couple of books on the subjects of ‘Stressing Less’, Staying positive and Mindfulness! As part of my mass declutter I now only have one bookshelf, but all of the works on it are based on a similar theme.
Stress Less by Jasmin Kirkbride is a small handbag-sized read that I will be able to take to work and dig into whenever it all gets a bit too much. The advice is written in easily digested quotes and short paragraphs and covers a range of topics from facing anxiety, to mental and physical positivity. There is even a section on exam and interview stress, so I may get Hannah to have a read through too and get a teenage perspective on the book.
Stay Positive by Sophie Golding is a bright ray of sunshine on your bookshelf; Just looking at that bright yellow cover cheers me up! It contains affirmations, amazing artwork and suggestions for making yourself see the better side of life. It is another easy read, broken into short sections you can dive in and out of, although there is possibly an amount of overlap with other similar books. Its tag line claims it will help aid unlock your inner optimist, which is always worth investigating.
Mindfulness For All by Jon Kabat-Zinn is a more in-depth book, which you’ll need to sit down with – no dipping in and out here! The author is a University Professor and looks at how as humans we often live lives in isolation from the feelings of others. He suggests that we need to begin to appreciate others despite their differences and how Mindfulness can be a catalyst that can propel us towards a greater understanding of others and the world we live in. There is also an extensive related reading section if this is a subject that you would like to look into on a deeper level.
I am really looking forward to working my way through these books, and I am hoping I will learn lots of new ideas and gain some great insight into developing a positive growth mindset.
Stoicism
Not all of my books were presents – if you buy it for yourself is it technically a self-care present? This book jumped out at me in the book shop while I was buying another book as a gift. Got to build up those Waterstone Plus points somehow!
I have been called all sorts in my time – not necessarily complementary things either – but one that interested me most was being told that I am quite ‘stoic’. It’s one of those words that you are sure you know the meaning of, but then double check when it is used in a context that involves yourself.
In this instance, it was levelled at me with the meaning that I am someone who puts up with ‘great hardships without complaint’, mainly because I have an ‘ah well, stuff happens’ attitude to most of the bad things that happen to me. This is sometimes looked upon as a negative character trait; my desire to avoid all forms of conflict can often be interpreted as a weakness.
It is often also levelled at those who come across as ’emotionless’, but I am reasonably certain the amount of crying I do renders that interpretation invalid!
It was with all of this in mind that I decided to pick up this book: The Daily Stoic
The book is set out as a daily devotional, with translated quotations from the most famous of the historical Stoics: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus. In the introduction it explains how maligned the concept has been; Stoicism is not about ‘giving in and putting up’, it is about accepting that there are elements of life that we are unable to change and that we should focus instead on those things we can influence.
I have already read ahead a few days, but I am going to try and get into the habit of using each daily reading as an opportunity to look at the areas of my life where I can make positive change, and discover the areas that I need to finally accept are beyond my control.
Over to you
Have you decided what you want 2020 to bring for you? Are you still thinking about what has passed instead of what is ahead? What one word do you want to take into the New Year?
I look forward to seeing you all in 2020, where I will be kicking my Kettle List’s butt, working on that home declutter, and finally passing my driving test.