Month: May 2019

Memoirs and Self-Help Books that Moved Me, Motivated Me, and Made Me Think

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Three shelves of books

The summer vacation season is upon us, and the weather here in East Tennessee is already getting hot and humid. Whether you’ll be lounging on the beach with a book or staying in your air-conditioned home avoiding the heat, the lazy days of summer are a great time to do a little reading. Most of the “Best Beach Reads” lists out there tend to focus on novels, but as someone who reads a lot of nonfiction, I thought it would be fun to round up some of my favorite memoirs and inspirational books that I’ve read over the past few years. Here they are, in no particular order:

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Making Space for Deep Work

- Alexis 1 Comment
Cover of Deep Work by Cal Newport

One of the things I miss most since becoming a mother is having blocks of quiet time to myself to really focus on something — reading, writing, or other creative or intellectual pursuits. Both my job and my hobbies require focused attention. I do a lot of thinking, analyzing, and writing, and those things are hard to do when distracted or in short blocks of time. When I do have quiet time at home (which is usually late in the evening), it’s easy to let my tired mind zone out by watching Netflix or clicking and scrolling online. During the workday, my brain often strays to the numerous little “to-dos” that I have to keep track of: remember to buy more diaper cream, get a birthday gift for so-and-so, pick out a picture day outfit for D, RSVP for the event on Saturday, etc. (This, for those who don’t know, is the mental load that working moms disproportionately carry.) Because I don’t get enough sleep these days, it takes discipline to stay focused on the task and hand and not let my brain run down all these rabbit holes all the time.

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Being Adopted, Part II: Finding the Missing Pieces

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You can read the earlier posts in this series here:

Flowers around a pond at the Denver Botanical Gardens, September 2013

Happy Mother’s Day! I thought this day would be an appropriate time to revisit the topic of my adoption and my two mothers: the one who carried me and gave birth to me, and the one who raised me. After my first two posts on being adopted, I received some feedback that they painted adoption in an overly negative light. To the contrary, adoption is very often the best solution to incredibly difficult problems. The fact that it is an imperfect solution does not mean we should avoid it or that we shouldn’t relish the many joys it brings. I am grateful to both of my mothers for the choices they made and the role they played in my life. I would not have lived the life I have lived, and I would not be the person I am, had it not been for both of these women.

I had always been curious about my biological family. In my early adult years, I took some half-hearted steps toward finding them, like adding my name and birthdate to online registries. It wasn’t until I was 22 or 23, though, that I started really seeking information about them. Read more

Overcoming Difficult Feelings Toward Challenging People In Our Lives

- Alexis 1 Comment

Photo of two people sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean, with the words “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. —Ian McLaren” superimposed on top of the image

I’ve been struggling lately with some difficult feelings toward a person I can best describe as a frenemy. We’ve been part of a shared circle of friends for many years, but from the beginning there have been aspects of her personality and behavior that have irritated me. We became closer for a period of time, and I thought that she had outgrown some of the things that had bothered me about her. Then we drifted further apart again, and a couple of incidents led me to feel hurt and frustrated by her. (I’m being deliberately vague in describing this person and her perceived crimes both to protect her privacy and because I don’t intend this post to be an airing of grievances against her. I am fairly certain she does not read this blog, though, and most likely will not see this post.)

My attempt to address my legitimate grievances with her directly was not well-met. I had more or less resolved to simply let go of the friendship, but given our mutual friends, that isn’t very feasible. I have no intention of starting some kind of cold war, and I don’t like holding grudges. But I find it very hard to be my best self when interacting with this person. Criticisms and negative feelings seem to bubble to the surface more often than I’d like. That’s not the person I want to be or a state of mind in which I want to live, so I’m trying hard to understand my feelings and change the way I react to her.

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