Happy New Year, All!
“Be Boring"
This might be the year of Navel Gazing for me.
In my post before New Years I made a causal brief reference to the goal of being boring in the eyes of my medical professionals. It was a comment that was randomly dropped while writing and I felt it would be a very positive development for me health wise to be boring (or healthy) in the coming year.
Oddly that phrase - be boring - stuck with me for a while.
Being perceived as boring has slightly negative connotations in almost all other situations. After all, who doesn’t want to be perceived as interesting, charming, the “life of the party!” Popular people are definitely not boring people. Others are drawn to them, seek out their attention, desire their company. It is an external shell that can also be described as charisma. Definitely not boring.
While in my life time I haven’t ever been described as the life of the party, I have gravitated toward leadership roles both in my professional life and private life. Even until recently I found myself invited to join the community board of directors and did so willingly because I was not a stranger to those kinds of activities. Stunningly I discovered that my actions on the board were noted by residents I didn’t even know. They knew my name, but I but I didn’t know them. I guess doing the hard actions, saying the hard things, and making a difference made me one of those “not boring” people.
But with all the health drama of the last 2 years, I believe my focus has changed. I think it has made me a bit more of an introvert than before. Yes, I was described as in extrovert by others and by personality testing. Now that label feels like a weight too hard to carry. I am more comfortable letting others grab the spot light. At least it feels like I am gravitating towards that as time passes. Focusing on my own needs, family, life and letting go of other stuff is the way I am heading.
None of this has happened intentionally. It is mostly an observation of where my life seems to be taking me. And it most definitely isn’t a New Year’s goal of any kind. It is more of a gentle observation of the evolution of my personality. Maybe a pulling in - a contraction - a letting go of previously held needs. I also think there is a shedding of some friendships that were not really friendships before - but I didn’t see that. Cultivating close friends, ideas, activities with a much smaller boundary than before.
Being more boring. That is what it feels like.
A New Yearly List
I follow a blogger named Leigh at 5 Acres and a Dream. While her life style is entirely different from mine, I really enjoy reading some of her posts in her effort to live more responsibly and off the grid. In a recent post she provided a list of her 2024 books that she read. It was TOTALLY amazing how many she had. It included paper, audio and kindle. I got to thinking ... I wonder how many I read last year. That inspired me to create my own list for 2025! Her list is just titles and authors. No reviews or pictures. Just a simple list. Mostly a list that gives her the scope of her reading for 2024. So I am off and running on my own list for 2025. Thanks for the idea, Leigh.
If you are curious about her blog or the list she provided - click on the link below.
https://www.5acresandadream.com/2024/12/my-2024-reading-list.html
7 comments:
I know why I have been drawn to you as a long-distance friend – we are similar in SO many ways, past and present! The only major difference I see from your narrative is that I have always tested as an introvert, although few believe me, as I have no problem speaking up and out, even from a podium, and have also been tapped for leadership roles (I credit my mom for training me from an early age to act confidently no matter how I felt). I offered to list the books I listened to in 2024, but no one has taken me up on it (I don't blame anyone; it would be a LONG list).
And I have always felt we needed to live closer. A continent between us - it is just too much. But I bet I would be using my spindles if we did live closer. I bet I would become a pest with your pets (all your pets - sheep, horses, cat, dogs, chickens, I am sure I am missing something) always coming to dispense loves to those creatures. You need to begin that book list for 2025 with Leigh and I. I am sure I would come in at 3rd place because I also like to watch various YouTube channels as well with some of my time. But it would be fun to see who has the longest list. I am doing it just for my own curiosity and so that I don’t re-read books which sometimes I do because I can’t remember if I read it and only figure that out half way through (it is that loss of brain cells that happens after 70, I fear.). Beware - after 70 can be tough!! :-)
I'm thrilled you're going to do a reading list! I get good ideas for my own reading from other people's lists.
And for Michelle, your advice is spot on. So much easier to list as you go. I just kept a blogger draft all year and added to it as I read or listen to my books. I'll do the same again this year.
I love your idea of using a blogger draft to log the books! So simple. My tastes are a bit odd - Apocalypse Stories, EMP, End of the World stories of survival. :-)
I keep track of the books I read. Don't have a goal just like to know.
I read 63 books last year. I also keep track on GoodReads.
I keep track of my books on Goodreads - it has prevented me from borrowing or buying a book I've already read on several occasions. Yes being boring healthwise is a good aim.
I'll join in the book reading for 2025, but if I get 12 in for the year I will be thrilled. :-)
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