Back To Reading
And on a wild trip back in time
Hi friend,
How are you this Friday? Or whenever this missive catches you?
Honestly, I’m exhausted. These last few weeks have been packed. It’s all (well, most - but that’s still a lot) good things. Some are thrilling-good and some are just run-of-the-mill, calm, routine good - and I appreciate that so much.
Work at Consider is picking up, I found a groove in terms of content creation, and my loved ones are well (well, my son is a bit under the weather today, but hopefully it’s the last in a series of summer ailments in our household).
I’ve also recorded a few FASCINATING new episodes for Looks Like Work, which I can’t wait to share (but meanwhile, please check out the latest + all the Season 1 and Season 3 episodes which are now on my blog, courtesy of my hardworking summer intern.)
Books
Today, like almost every Friday, I made my way to the swimming pool. I have this routine lately, of waking up early, walking Guovanni, working for 60-90 minutes, then going to the neighborhood swimming pool (which happened to be where I had swimming class when I was 9).
I swim for about 30 minutes, then waddle to the backyard, lay my towel on a chair under a sunbrella, and read. It’s blissful.
The thing is, that hasn’t happened in a while. I mean - I’ve read, but not really, not like I used to. I’d mostly re-read favorites (which is the ultimate comfort), the ones that I pretty much know by heart. But even then, I’d lose patience very quickly. Once in a while, there’d be something new that really catches my attention - but I miss consistently reading, hopping from book to book, being able to trust that reading would be there for me.
Let me be transparent: I’m not back there yet.
But I am closer.
Right now I’m reading 3 books:
The Diamond Cutter - which I already wrote extensively about. This book is changing my life. And my business. But I’ll say more after I finish it (I’m intentionally savouring it by only reading it after my Friday swim).
The Critic’s Daughter - a memoir by Priscilla Gillman, whose The Anti Romantic Child I also loved.
And a rotating romance - I breezed through Hotter in the Hamptons by Tinx (better than you’d expect), really enjoyed Elissa Sussman’s third romance (better than her second one, not as good as Funny You Should Ask, but close enough! I recommend), and I’m now in the middle of It’s A Love Story by Annabel Mongahan. Monaghan also wrote Nora Goes Off Script, which is one of my favorite novels ever, and sadly, I haven’t been able to restore that magical experience with her books since, but this one IS cute.
(all links are affiliate + here’s the rest of my TBR file).
Wistful
I don’t know if it’s the changing weather, finally getting over an annoying virus, my work, or perhaps dreaming about my Grandma (who passed 18 years ago) - but I’ve been quite wistful this week.
So when I ended up looking up old blog entries from 2012-4 for a video I‘m creating, it really caught me by surprise:
How similar my current decor is to those moodboards I used to create
How much thought and skill and sheer effort I’d put so regularly into something that was a hobby - yes, it did turn into a career, but I had no idea it would. Somehow, this energized me to continue creating content for Consider.
It also inspired an impromptu introspection of sorts, that just flowed from my iPhone into Instagram Stories:
Questions for you
What surprised you about your mood this week? And what can the present version of yourself learn from a past version (maybe even specifically the 2012 version of you)?
More business musing coming next Wednesday for subscribers of my other newsletter You’re Gonna Want To Sit Down For This - subscribe now if you don’t want to miss it.
Until next time,
Yours,
Chedva x
ps. End the war. Bring the hostages home. Feed Gaza. Elections now.
pps. Lazy titles show you how tired I am, but I’m glad we chatted anyhow.