I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.
Dame Agatha Christie
This past month has been a tough one, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. We cycled through several colds in our household, the last one being a doozy and I can safely say I was racked with both misery and coughing fits. As a result of that last rough one, I even spent part of an overnight in the hospital with our youngest with the nurses checking her vitals every hour or so. Thankfully she is just fine now and it ended up being most likely a very mild (thank goodness) case of RSV but it was definitely a scary experience – including her very first (hopefully last) ride in an ambulance!
Suffice it to say, reading has not been much of a priority this month as we’ve been in survival mode but I think we’ve gotten through the worst of it (she says hesitantly not wanting to provoke any celestial last laughs). But I did read some great things even if only one of them was a book proper. And for that I am both thankful and proud. See, Mom? Getting a wee bit less hard on myself finally. What an improvement.
So, without further ado and before we all get sick again…here’s my roundup for the month.
Articles
Shock of the old: the amazing, infuriating history of the electric car – in pictures. By Emma Beddington
One of my absolute favourite things is learning about an aspect of history which is completely new to me. And considering how long human beings have been around and how long we have been writing down our thoughts on our own existence…this is a common occurrence! This article was just one of those experiences for me – though we now own a hybrid vehicle (thanks to the generosity of my lovely parents), I never knew the history of electric cars. As someone who is painfully aware of the climate crisis – no this is not an invitation for climate change denial arguments – and hoping desperately that we can turn things around so that my children and their children continue to have a beautiful world to exist in…I honestly feel guilty every single time I fill up the car. Thankfully with the hybrid this is infinitely less often than with our old Versa but…I’m still driving a largely gas-powered vehicle which inevitably contributes to global warming and the climate catastrophe…and yet living out in the country means that it’s hard to exist without at least one car (and now we have two). So, reading about how electric cars have existed for far longer than I knew and that we could have skipped the gas-powered-car age entirely to the benefit of, well, everyone was…infuriating? I realize that batteries have come a long way and that perhaps our development as a society, especially in Canada where the distances are vast, may not have been possible without the almighty gas engine but…could we seriously have not taken another path? The mind boggles.
The danger of cities drowning in horseshit was extremely real and terrifying, so vehicles like this dainty little Smart ancestor must have felt like the futuristic answer to their prayers. Now people use the crisis’s painless resolution to argue against tackling the climate crisis, because unfortunately, no amount of progress has cured stupidity.
Emma Beddington
Fika, four-week holidays – and zero overtime: Sweden’s stunningly healthy work culture. By Leah Harper
Now, I’ll preface this glowing review with a caveat that this article does a good job of balancing out the extraordinarily healthy aspects of Sweden’s work culture with the challenges still inherent in access to these benefits depending on economic status. So, they’re not perfect and have a long way to go before being so. However, I still think they’re headed in the right direction! Something we have been struggling with in our household this year is the fact that my husband has had very little vacation time to avail himself of. That’s not to say he doesn’t get vacation days but rather because we have planned to finally go on our honeymoon in January (5 years after we got married!) and are doing a three-week trip to New Zealand for it…that’s pretty much all his allotted vacation time right there. Now, I’m well aware that we are lucky he is able to take off such a large chunk of time in order to travel across the world with me (and without the kids no less…) but what frustrates me is that our work culture is such that this kind of occurrence is a rare exception. Basically, we live in a society in which work is the be all and end all and you are supposed to just fit the rest of your life around it. I have never found this to be a healthy or sustainable outlook on life and I feel so blessed to have found work myself that allows me to prioritize my family life and hobbies but I’ve resigned myself to the idea that this isn’t going to change any time soon. However…after reading this article I’m hopeful that maybe, just maybe, we can shift as a society to focus on life outside of work instead? If Sweden can do it…I think we can too! Who’s with me?
Swedes value work-life balance and, unless the job necessitates it, will avoid letting professional commitments seep into their personal lives. Most employers also offer flexible work hours.
Leah Harper
‘I guess I’m never going to see you again’: how I learned to appreciate last moments. By Joel Snape
This was…a hard read. But an important one. I feel this deeply, especially as a Mom to two little ones. Social media is constantly reminding me that I never know when I will pick up my almost-four-year-old for the last time. When she’ll stop snuggling up to me in bed after a bad dream. When my 13-month-old will cease her adorable babbling for good. When I’ll read my last bedtime story with both girls…and it’s hard to fully appreciate every moment the way I know I should because raising little ones is also so exhausting and, well, hard! In the throws of all the tantrums, bedtime fights and big feelings this article was the perfect reminder I needed that all of this is fleeting. I’m going to blink and I’ll have two teenagers traipsing around the house with their headphones in and I know I’ll find myself missing the snuggles desperately (though, perhaps, not the temper tantrums). I’m going to try and appreciate these moments more, truly, because who knows when they’re going to come to an end.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that there will be a last time you pick up your child, but there will be dozens of other things, too: the last time they grab your hand to cross a road, pronounce it “hitapotamous” or scream with fury because you try to shampoo their hair.
Joel Snape
Blogs
Falling at the trauma hurdle. By Lucy Grove-Jones
This post…it hit me like a ton of bricks. Now Lucy, amazing, talented, Lucy, has been through a LOT. I won’t summarize it here because I won’t be able to properly do her experience justice but please check out her blog (and her patreon). Her art is fantastic and can be seen at her other blog Silence Killed the Dinosaurs. Seriously, check it out. It’s great. But the blog this was posted on follows her writing journey and my goodness can I ever relate to this one – though I didn’t know it until this moment! I have not experienced the same trauma but after reading her blog I had an epiphany: one of the reasons, probably the main reason, I have not been able to return to the writing of my book in years is likely because it is connected to trauma in my mind. That book was my sanity in the midst of a difficult work situation which ended up leading to some pretty severe anxiety that I am still coping with. I would write furiously during lunch hours, after work and on the weekend to keep my brain from ruminating on the crap that was going on at work. And now that I’m out of that situation, I’m having trouble returning to the book (which I do truly love and want to write) without also revisiting the pain and anxiety of the situation which surrounded my writing of it…It makes perfect sense. Now I just have to figure out how to untangle my book from my work-based anxiety and we will be good to go…right?
Everything became golden. The red world from before faded to a ghost.
And it took writing with it, as I had accidentally stitched them together.
Lucy Grove-Jones, LJ Grove-Jones Writes
Books
Would you believe I only finished a single book in November? And it was at the very beginning of the month! As I mentioned, though, we went through illness after illness over the past 30 days so…I’m just thrilled we’re on the other side. Here’s to more reading in December! And a healthier month over all…
But, on the bright side, I finally finished my Bridgerton marathon! It always feels good to finish a series, especially one that is 8 books long. Next comes the prequels (I do so love Violet Bridgerton so they definitely intrigue me) but I’ll likely take a break from that world first. I’m still not a huge fan of Julia Quinn’s male characters and I’m loathe to read Violet’s story if it means I end up also disliking the Bridgerton patriarch who thus far has been rather idolized in memoriam.
That being said, I think Gregory Bridgerton might have been my favourite man in the entire series – he actually seemed like a decent human being (and one without serious anger issues). I actually rated this one five stars. Not a bad book to go out on for now!
That’s it for this month’s roundup. I hope I’ll have more to share next month but even if we just make it through the Christmas season in good health I’ll be thrilled. After all, even when we’re sick, just to be alive is a grand thing indeed.
So, remember, life is not only grand most days. It is beautiful.
xo Erin
Erin of the Hills 