Totally Be

  I’ve been a stay-at-home parent on and off for a little over eight years and I feel like I’ve finally come to terms with it. My journey began with the maternity leave of my first child. When that meager three months was over, I wanted to go back to work part-time, but the company employing me at the time only wanted me back full-time. I resigned instead. After six more months at home, I found a part-time position with the county. Rinse and repeat maternity leaves, and part-time hours each time I had my second and third children. So I never really felt committed as a homemaker or dedicated to my career. Then the COVID pandemic happened. Things were extremely difficult trying to do everything at home while most public spaces were closed, but it was technically possible. Then over the summer of 2020, my place of work reopened, but in September, our school did not. At least, not completely. I didn’t feel comfortable asking my wonderful mother-in-law (who filled in for childcare while...

  Most of the time when I read I want to escape: to go on an adventure, to be thrilled and satisfied. Other times (and I am often unaware of this craving), I need a book that makes me think–a book that perhaps asks more questions than it answers, but nevertheless has me feeling better about what I don’t know.  This is a list of those types of books. Thoughtful books. Books that are calm and comforting amidst chaos and confusion. Books that get readers thinking differently, yet don’t ask too much of them. Mindful books.  Not  books about mindfulness or its practice, but rather books that practice at being mindful.  Here they are, in no particular order: The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down  by Haemin Sunim.  265 pages. Written alternatively in short 2-6 page stories and even shorter 2-6 line anecdotes, this book is easy to dip in and out of. The author is a Zen Buddhist monk and professor and shares the wisdom he has gained from his monastic p...