Rest, Renewal, Reading, and a Short Post Series

RESTING

My husband and I recently went on vacation to Carlsbad, CA (not New Mexico), a middle city between San Diego and LA. We drove there and back, taking time to see some of the coastline in California and Oregon. I shared many photos on IG, but I’ll share a few here, too.

The first photo shows Big Sur with marine fog (there’s a photo later without it.)

The second photo is the Sleeping Tiger mural in Carlsbad, CA.

The beach photo is one I think I took on our 20-mile bike ride on Coronado Island.

THE VACATION WAS A MUCH-NEEDED REST

Photos: Morro Bay with sea otters, Big Sur highway trail without marine air, beach in Torrey Pines Park, the Oregon Dunes, Heceta Head Lighthouse with marine air in Oregon, and Cannon Beach, Oregon.

This vacation helped me check-in with how I was doing as an author, a teacher, a volunteer, and with all the “things” I do that keep me busy throughout each day and each week at home. I realized, I had started to over-do again.

I decided I need to take this “rest” and extend it into a vacation kind of mindset for everyday living.

READING IN AUDIO 

Part of the way I rest is through reading, although I didn’t do as much of that on the trip as I had intended.

My husband has been wanting to read more, but he doesn’t like to read paperback or ebooks because he stares at a screen all day for work, so we have been listening to audio book versions of The False Prince and The Runaway King, part of a series by Jennifer A. Nielsen for MG to YA readers. I’ve read those books as library books in the past, so it’s been interesting to hear them as audio books. 

I’ve discovered how rich the author’s language is, and how well she uses each word to create a compelling and fun narrative. I think I race past most of those rich-word moments when I’m reading for storyline and plot.

For this reason, I’ve decided to make one of my reading goals for 2023 to be about reading in audio. This year, I had the goal of reading 25% poetry books and 25% non-fiction and I’m far behind on both, but I have read far more of those genres than I normally do.

STARTING A NEW, SHORT SERIES OF BLOG AND SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

Consider this all to be a pre-amble for a combined series of blog, newsletter, and social media posts. I’ve been discussing courage in some places, and I’ll continue to do that, but I’ll also be talking about rest and renewal as necessary parts of life, of gaining courage, and as a part of fiction. 

How is rest a part of storytelling in fiction? Well… stick around for the next several posts and you’ll see. 

Warning: this is a cliff hanger.