Lisa notes

On the Blog—August 2023

By LisaNotes August 31, 2023 Archives No Comments

Here are brief summaries and links to posts on the blog, Lisa notes, in August 2023.

See previous months’ archives here

7 Books I Recommend—August 2023

By LisaNotes August 30, 2023 Books I Recommend 16 Comments

“A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition.”
– Henry Miller

Here are 5 nonfiction books + 2 novels I recommend from what I finished reading in August. 

[See previously recommended books here]

NONFICTION

1. Decluttering at the Speed of Life
Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff
by Dana K. White

Decluttering at the Speed of Life

If reading a book on decluttering actually prompts me to get up and declutter, it’s a good book. (This book prompted me to finally clean off some bookshelves; I’m loving the results!) I like Dana’s philosophy that the size of your closet determines how many clothes you can keep; the size of your cabinet determines how many glasses you can keep; etc.

“I let the container make the tough decisions. I don’t have to evaluate the worthiness of each book and somehow worry about offending these inanimate objects. I just have to let the shelf determine how many I can keep.”

2. Your Future Self
How to Make Tomorrow Better Today
by Hal Hershfield

Your Future Self

Very interesting! Encourage your present self to have empathy for your future self. And realize you’re not finished changing yet.

“Although we recognize that we’ve evolved from who we once were to who we are now, we fail to see that we will continue to change in the future. . . . ‘In many ways,’ he told me, ’64 is more different from 54 was from 44.’ It can be hard to see that even though we’ve experienced great change in the past, we will continue to experience great change in the future.”

3. The Art of Nonviolent Communication
Turning Conflict into Connection
by Micah Salaberrios

The Art of Nonviolent Communication

The quick formula for better communication: 1-State the facts. 2-Identify your feelings. 3-State why you feel this way (your unmet need). 4-Make a request to get your need met.

Although this book is only 64 pages, it is a great synopsis of the longer works by Marshall Rosenberg on nonviolent communication.

4. Fight like a Mother
How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World
by Shannon Watts

Fight like a Mother

After Shannon Watts heard about the Sandy Hook School shooting, she decided she’d had enough of doing nothing about gun violence. So she created a Facebook page for other moms against gun violence. And it grew. And grew. This book tells how her small Facebook group grew into the now millions of people advocating for common sense gun legislation as Moms Demand Action. (Our Alabama chapter of Moms Demand Action is reading this book together for our book club.)

5. You Sound Like a White Girl
The Case for Rejecting Assimilation
by Julissa Arce

You Sound Like a White Girl

As a teen, Julissa thought it was a compliment when a white boy told her she sounded like a white girl. But as she grew older, she found that as a daughter of immigrants from Mexico, she could never quite fit in with her brown skin. So she stopped trying. In this book she shares the racism she has experienced as a brown American by other Americans. And suggests how we might end it.   

FICTION

6. The Ministry for the Future
by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Ministry for the Future

This novel is very long (578 pages); it’s hard to follow (it has multiple narrators from multiple points of view); it’s a little depressing (it’s about climate change). But . . . it is important. It shows a possible future we might all be facing if we don’t work on reducing the negative climate effects we’re creating on our planet. So I recommend it. It will make you think. (I found the audiobook helped me better decipher who was narrating each chapter.)

7. Call Your Daughter Home
by Deb Spera

Call Your Daughter Home

This is one of my favorite novels of the year so far. It’s about three women in South Carolina in 1924: a poor mother of four, a first-generation freed Black woman, and a rich white matriarch. The intertwining of their lives is beautifully told. If you like audiobooks, listen to this one instead of reading it; it has great narration.

WHAT I’M READING NOW

  • Falling Down and Getting Up
    Discovering Your Inner Resilience and Strength
    by Mark Nepo
  • Language Power
    100 Things You Need to Make Language Work for You
    by Norbert Schmitt
  • “All the Real Indians Died Off”
    And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans
    by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
  • American Idolatry
    How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church
    by Andrew L. Whitehead
  • Nobody Needs to Know: A Memoir
    by Pidgeon Pagonis

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What good book have you read lately? Please share in the comments.

sharing at these linkups

Share Four Somethings—August 2023

By LisaNotes August 28, 2023 Life updates 12 Comments

Near the end of each month at Jennifer’s linkup we share four somethings that we’re loving, reading, learning, and eating.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Loving

  • CRITIQUE, NOT CRITICISM

I received a critique of my writing last week from the mastermind writing group that I participate in. And it felt nothing like criticism.

The official definitions of critique and criticism may have some overlap. But when people you trust and respect offer advice with kindness and care, it is helpful, not hurtful.

I appreciate this group of women who not only offer me writing advice, but also encourage me with life advice on what I’m writing about.

 ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Reading

  • FALLING DOWN AND GETTING UP

We all have ups and downs in life. I’ve had quite a few (again) this past year.

So this quote from Mark Nepo in Falling Down and Getting Up feels relevant (and it also contains my word of the year Human, which really pops up everywhere).

“When medieval monks were asked how they practiced their faith, they said, ‘By falling down and getting up.’ This is the human journey from which no one is exempt.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Learning

  • ANOTHER USE FOR GRAVITY

Incidental to falling down is gravity. Part of my mindfulness practice is placing awareness on which parts of my body are actually touching the ground (or the chair, floor, bed, etc.).

Being aware of gravity helps me stay centered in the present (my mind likes to travel to the past and future instead of staying put in this moment). Gravity keeps me grounded in more ways than one.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Eating

  • CHICAGO’S GARRETT POPCORN

When my daughter Jenna and I were in Chicago earlier this month, we didn’t eat any of Chicago’s famous deep-dish pizza or Chicago-style hot dogs.

But while waiting at Chicago’s O’Hare airport for our return flight home, a woman sitting beside me in the terminal was eating Garrett Popcorn, a Chicago favorite. I asked her where she got it, and if it was worth the long hike through the terminal to get it. She gave a hearty yes.

So on a last minute whim, I walked/ran back through the airport to find the Garrett popcorn stand before our call to board (wondering the whole way if chasing food was a stupid decision).

It proved to be worth it (and thankfully I still had plenty of time). Of the three flavors in the Garrett Mix, my favorite was Caramel Crisp.

Garrett Popcorn

Do you have a favorite Chicago food? What’s something you’re learning or loving this month?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

I’m linking at these blog parties

Winner of the Book Giveaway Is…
—Grace & Truth Linkup

By LisaNotes August 25, 2023 Grace & Truth Link-Up 3 Comments

I did a spin of the Random Number Generator and got #28.

So commenter #28 Lynn Morrissey on my 15-year-blogaversary post is the book giveaway winner!

Thanks to all who left a comment and a congratulations there. You all are amazing blogging friends! I look forward to hearing and reading more from you in the years ahead.  

grace-and-truth-weekly-christian-linkup-friday

Grace & Truth Featured Post

Do certain books speak to you of a particular season? In Michele’s post, she shares some of her seasonal favorites. She also writes about a new book she’s reading about using stories to help shape our faith.

Read all of Michele’s post at her blog, then link up your own blog posts below.

“Stories Shape Our Faith and Heighten Our Joy in Every Season”

Review the rules here about adding your most recent Christian Living posts and how to be the Featured Post. Visit all four hosts social media here or websites here: Maree Dee, Lisa notes, Lauren Sparks, Tammy Kennington.

Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Spark These 3 Conversations with Your One Word
{One Word 2023 August Linkup}

By LisaNotes August 23, 2023 Human: One Word 2023, One Word Community 15 Comments

Link all of your ONE WORD blog posts below. Share an update about your One Word in the comments.

Have conversations with others this month about your One Word. Make a list of three people you can discuss your word with, and pencil in a time to do it.

Whether in person or online, here are a few questions you can ask (revise as needed to best suit your word):

  • What does my word mean to you?
  • What do you think is the opposite of my word?
  • Do you think about this word rarely or often?
  • Where does this word pop up in your everyday life?
  • Can you give me suggestions for better experiencing or practicing this word?

Listening and talking with others about your word can spark new insights and intentions as you practice it throughout the month.

I’ve appreciated the conversations I’ve had so far with others about my word HUMAN. One of the interesting insights I heard was:

“The opposite of human? Fake.”

I hadn’t thought of that. Our full human self is our full authentic self. It takes a lot of human courage to voluntarily be vulnerable.

I’ve been rereading Brené Brown books this month as I deal with my own humanness and vulnerability. In Daring Greatly, she says,

“Vulnerability is the core, the heart, the center, of meaningful human experiences.”

When I’ve asked others, “How can we be better humans?” some of the answers included:

  • Be aware more of commonalities among people.
  • Listen and share time with other humans.
  • Stay grounded with your own body and your own humanity.

I agree. How would you answer?

Now to continue the work. . . .

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~ * ~ * ~

This August linkup for One Word updates will remain open for two weeks through midnight on Wednesday, September 6. Each link shared here will also be shared with our One Word Facebook group. 

Next month’s One Word linkup will open on Saturday, September 23.

If you’d like to receive our monthly One Word emails and ideas, .

What are you learning about your One Word through conversations with others? Leave a comment here about your One Word.

Link Up About Your One Word!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Don’t Let Zoom Steal Your Humanity

By LisaNotes August 21, 2023 Community, Human: One Word 2023 18 Comments

My People on the Screen

It was finally time for lunch. We’d had a busy morning going separate directions, listening to speakers in different rooms of the conference center.

I grabbed the boxed meal available in the lunchroom and began looking around.

Where were my people?

I checked the group text. A few were responding. Someone had saved us a table near the front of the room near the coffee machine.

For a year I’d had conversations with this group of people. I’d seen their heads. I’d heard their voices. All through a screen.

And it worked. It got the job done. It was fine and I am grateful for the option. Long live Zoom.

But now it was time to see them in person.

The Back of Your Head

I finally saw a face I recognized and headed toward it. One by one, our round table filled up with people I’d previously seen only on my laptop.

Here at last I saw arms and legs and even the backs of heads. It was glorious.

There’s something special about being physically present in the same space with other humans. Seeing their hand gestures. Watching their walk. Getting to pass them the butter.

In this year of Human as my One Word, I’m appreciating the opportunities to be in the same room again with other humans.

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Another Person In-Person

After we finished lunch that Friday, we filed into another larger room. We took our seats together with 2,000 other people.

We were all waiting for one more human to enter.

When the Vice President of the United States finally entered the room, we all heard “Hail Columbia,” the song traditionally played to announce her arrival.

The in-person presence of Vice President Kamala Harris brought another level of energy into the place. All eyes focused on her; all ears listened as she spoke; all phone cameras pointed toward her.

Even though we could also see 2-D close-up shots of her on the two big screens on either side of the stage, it felt different—and much better—to also watch her in the flesh.

It comes more naturally to connect with other humans in person instead of through screens.

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When You Can, Do It

It’s not possible to always be in the same room with people we want to be with, whenever when we want to be with them.

But when we can, let’s do it.

That’s human.

Have you experienced meeting someone in person after only seeing them on screens? Share in the comments.

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