Win of the week: Made it out alive from a chaotic week

Looking forward to: Feeling better

a week’s worth of shōkakkō

Sunday: Staying long after our agape meal catching up with church friends

I had missed church a couple of weeks in a row because the kids were sick and so it was really nice to finally be back, to see everyone and catch up.

Monday: Just making it through the day

Mental health has been bad lately so just making it through the day is a huge accomplishment.

Tuesday: Snuggling on the couch with the kids and reading my book

Max caught the stomach bug and so began the all-day puke fest. A nice thing about this terribly unfortunate situation is we got to snuggle lots on the couch. The kids watched their shows and films and I got to read Stoner (and catch puke in a bucket).

Wednesday: A deep slumber; the kind of sleep that pulls you at the ankles to the bottom of the sea

Exhausted with being an amateur nurse. Had a deep nap with the kids and I felt like this wave of exhaustion just pulled me in like a wave crashing on to the shore.

Thursday: Enjoying a movie that actually captures the magic between two actors

Watched Drive My Car and felt like it was able to capture on screen what I love about acting.

Friday: Eating a yummy dinner and watching a movie together

The kids and I watched a Studio Ghibli film and ate together. We usually don’t do screens at all (we’ve been only doing a ‘show day’ once a week), but it was nice to watch a movie and eat yummy food.

Saturday: Resting in bed with minimal interruption

I finally got hit with the awful stomach flu. I was out for a good 24 hours. Thankfully, my husband gained back some strength and felt well enough to look after the kids while I prayed the hardest I ever usually pray (lol) in bed, in the dark, hoping to not puke.

what we did

• Went to Divine Liturgy (finally)
• Felt super down and discouraged about my personal artistic pursuits; lack of creativity, the exhaustion I feel everyday, the lack of time I have for myself
• Also felt really depressed in my personal life in general; just struggling with my mental health
• Struggling with figuring out how to use my Hobonichi Weeks and feel ‘planner peace’
• Started and finished a book
• The whole family came down with the stomach flu; Max puked his guts out on Tuesday, then Nigel got sick on Friday, then Elora started throwing up Friday night, and then I was put through a gruelling 24 hours on Saturday
• Did lots of housework, a TON of laundry
• Elora received a new Rapunzel outfit (t-shirt and skirt set), Max got a new t-shirt with cars on it — they’re both OBSESSED with their new clothes
• Had some story ideas in film and prose format

content consumption

Reading — Books

Started and Finished: Stoner by John Williams — Heartbreaking. Captures with aching honesty a man’s life full of stoic endurance, fortitude amidst strife and adversity.

Currently: A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater

Reading — Substack Articles

Thoughts on the Bored Stay-At Home Mother by Liturgy in the Home with Maria — I felt so seen, understood, and encouraged by this piece.

Tolkien’s Guide to Re-Enchantment by The Culturist (paid) — I’ve been thinking a lot about enchantment, wonder, awe, living one’s everyday life with a sense of ceremony and gratitude. I thought this piece wonderfully articulated how Tolkien used his work to show how an ‘enchanted’ man (versus the modern man)experiences the inherent wonder of things and only wishes to live among them; not understand them, use them, or control them in order to transcend nature.

Watching — Films

Finished: Hard Boiled (1992) dir. John Woo

Finished: Drive My Car (2021) dir. Hamaguchi Ryusuke — super layered film; I particularly enjoyed the scene of the two actresses in the park (I feel like it caught the synergy between two actors as humans and how in that ‘poiesis’ it brought new value, meaning and depth to the scene for the characters — one of my favourite things about acting!), that tension-filled scene of Kafuku and Takatsuki in the car, and the final scene of Uncle Vanya.

the good and the beautiful

Anything I found beautiful that’s worth mentioning

• A lot of beautiful passages in Stoner
• The joy (and slight overwhelm tbh) of knowing there are so many books I want to read
• A long film (and a long book) is like having a full-course meal or meditation on certain topics and themes. A refreshing experience compared to doomscrolling and consuming short-form content
• The aesthetic look of a fully filled-out spread
• Knowing I have a ‘cloud of witnesses’ that I can ask for intercession to, that I’m not alone