Bookshelf layout envy
Books & podcasts worth mentioning, getting stuck on a familiar path
In this update I share books and podcasts, my bookshelf layout envy after visiting a friend who used to be a librarian and explore how I got stuck on a familiar path.
Bookshelf Layout Envy
Have you heard the term 'bookshelf layout envy'? I made it up and think you may know EXACTLY what I mean.
On one of my weekends away I reunited with new friends I made last year at a writing retreat. Two of us travelled by train to Bairnsdale where we were met by our friend who drove us to her home in Lakes Entrance. I discovered her expansive range of book shelves, categorised by genre and author.
She used to be a librarian.
Seeing this many books in someone's house was a revelation and I was inspired to return home and rearrange my own bookshelves. They are now sorted into reference, fiction, sentimental books and the books I am comfortable lending to others. Yes, they are also categorised in alphabetical order, by author's surname, then book title. I have numerous books by Brené Brown, Malcom Gladwell, Kate Grenville, Hugh Mackay and Cal Newport.
One day I hope to have a room like Sunday Reed's in Heide 1. Floor to ceiling shelves filled with books. For now, my bookshelves are located in four places throughout my home; my office, our lounge room, sitting room and bedroom.
It’s what you produce on the scale of years not the scale of weeks that ultimately matters.
Books worth mentioning
Falling behind my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge by four books, I told myself I probably needed to cancel all social plans to catch up on my reading. I’ve been watching too much Netflix because there are new seasons for some of my favourite shows - Virgin River, The Good Doctor and Young Sheldon.
I’ve also been on two extended weekends away, which is where I experienced 'bookshelf layout envy' from a friend who used to be a librarian.
I'm still making my way through Jenn Granneman’s 2017 book, The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside our Hidden World, re-started ADHD 2.0 by Edward M. Hallowell and John R. Ratey and did manage to finish The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot and Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
I loved reading the perspective of the dog, Six-Thirty, in Lessons in Chemistry. The drama TV series, based on this popular book, is being released today. But I can’t watch it yet, because I have books to read!
Podcasts worth mentioning
I am a regular listener of Cal Newport’s podcast, Deep Questions. Newport’s latest book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout, will be released in March, 2024. One of the slow productivity principles Newport mentions in Ep: 267 Why are you tired? feels particularly relevant for me this month. It encouraged me to thank Sylvia for her contribution, ignore her unkind words, and then make my way back down the other, less familiar paths.
Other podcasts I’ve been tuning into recently are from The Light Show, with Light Watkins and Good Life Project, with Jonathan Fields. I loved Watkins’ interview with Mark Nepo in Falling Down and Getting Up with Mark Nepo and have listened to it twice.
I got stuck on a familiar path
At this morning’s journaling session, I realised that I got stuck on an old and familiar path. Until recently, I’d been enjoying my travels down multiple paths. The variety of endeavours had been nurturing my creativity and I could feel the momentum building in my writing and my research for my book. These self care and creative pursuits are vital for nurturing the version of me I enjoy the most.
The familiar path I got stuck on is my work. The day job.
It’s easy to get stuck because I really enjoy my work. A significant part of my current identity is attached to ‘what I do’ and how I’m professionally recognised. It’s also what I am used to and what I have done for over ten years.
But if I want new growth, I also need to traverse the other paths I’ve created for myself.
I forgot that this month.
Please meet Sylvia, who represents my shadow1 voice.
“You’ve failed!” she tried to tell me this week.
I’ve been feeling more sensitive and vulnerable to Sylvia than usual. Perhaps these feelings are another one of the expanding list of discoveries in the land of the peri menopausal.
I’ve also felt guilty about not writing here on Substack. As someone who loves the therapy of writing, I committed to myself that I would show up here each month. To embrace my ambivert tendencies and to share what I was learning as I explore the worlds of ambiverts, introverts and highly sensitive people.
During this morning’s journalling session I returned to this earlier journal entry.
You’ve decided to focus on dedicating more time to writing as KPH and your website.
TRUST THIS DECISION.
It’s been the reminder and encouragement I needed to publish today’s post.
With love & gratitude,
KPH
Please consider a paid subscription
If you are a free subscriber, reading through my archive and enjoying reading these updates, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription for A$8 per month or A$75 annually.
I acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which I live and pay my respects to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
The term 'the shadow' was made popular by psychoanalyst Carl Jung. He saw it as the uncivilised, even primitive side of our nature. We all have a shadow self. It is generally made up of the parts of ourselves we deem unacceptable. For many people this means things like our sadness, rage, laziness, and cruelty. Source: Harley Therapy.