The tunes and reads keeping me going
Week 4:
Music:
I’ve crossed back to our current timeline with my listening habits, which I think is somewhat symbolic. I feel like last week I moved out of brain detox and into brain rehab. I don’t need to reach back for a simpler time to make the transition softer.
Perfect timing, because Eric Church’s new album came out May 2, and while it’s blink-and-it’s-over short, it’s a no skip album.
Book:
This book blew my mind. Then I thought about it for a couple of days, and got a little uncomfy with some of the assumptions he makes especially in regards to freedom and agency, and a but of a “bootstrappy” tone in places. Also, learning he was 32 when he wrote it sort of took the shine of wisdom off for me.
But then I thought about it some more, and I still think the book makes some excellent points and is something I can use in my relatively comfortable, agency-filled life. I do not think it’s appropriate to say that it is a one size fits all self-help book that makes everyone equally capable of changing their circumstances.
It has definitely led to a reframe in my outlook on life, which I think makes it worth reading – with a big grain of salt.
Week 3:
Music:
Still stuck in the early aughts this week – as with John Mayer, the whole Jack Johnson discography has been providing the soundtrack to my days, but as I endeavor to live a life that feels right for me, but might seem confusing, flighty, or even outright irresponsible to some, I have to remind myself that at the end of the day, I’m the only one who I need to make happy – and people probably aren’t thinking about me as much as I assume they are.
As the lyrics in “Wasting Time” remind me: “everybody thinks that everybody knows about everybody else, but nobody knows anything about themselves, ’cause they’re all worried about everybody else”
Book:
I devoured this on audiobook over the course of 2-3 days this week. The premise is not groundbreaking (what would you do if you knew when and how you would die?), but the plot was unique, with a cast of characters I was truly rooting for. Themes of love, loss, purpose, and the components of a life well lived were particularly resonant as I wove my way around the island’s paths.
Plus, the characters are Australian and there are multiple narrators, so it was particularly fun to listen.
Music:
Still in #tbt mode. This album always slaps (in fact, most of his albums do) and brings me back to high school. I’ve been working my way through his whole discography, especially the first 3 albums.
The lyrics of “Why Georgia” hit different today: “Everybody is just a stranger, guess that’s the danger in going my own way. Guess that’s the price I have to pay. Still, ‘everything happens for a reason’ is no reason not to ask myself if I am living it right.”
Book:
I am no Greek mythology geek, but I am amazed at how much I retained of The Iliad and The Odyssey from high school (and how much the references have continued to weave so seamlessly into any given zeitgeist).
The premise of this book is right up my alley. Women play a crucial role in both of these stories – but usually as plot points (eg Helen is the entire reason for the Trojan War, but does anyone bother to get to know her? Do we know what her favorite color was?). There are, apparently several adjacent works by Homer, Euripides, Aeschylus and others that are written from the POV of Trojan and Greek women, but of course they were written by… men.
This book appears to be part of a relatively new genre by women authors – a retelling of these age old stories from the points of view of those “left behind.” Women who didn’t die “heroically” on the battlefield, but whose sacrifices are arguably as, if not more heroic.
Quick, easy read, and no need to brush up on your Greek mythology beforehand.
Week 1:
Music:
Been channeling 2005 this week. This album always brings me right back to my semester abroad in Galway, Ireland and I only re-discovered it recently
Book:
I lost the first two days to this book, which was excellent but… not an upper
The Hannahlogues 