Trail Mix :: No. 08

Life Change & The April Favorites List: Books, Podcasts, Pancakes, Quotes!

What’s Your Life Change Scale Score?

Hello Hello! I hope you’re ready for this list of April favorites!

I’m so excited to pass on all the interesting books, podcasts, thoughts, and words I’ve been mulling over.

My husband can confirm my love for sharing what I’m learning because every morning he has to listen to me jabber while he drinks his coffee! Before he commutes to his home office, down the hallway, we talk for about 20 minutes about everything - business ideas, books we’re reading, an article we read, or whether or not we’ll ever find a house. (We’ve lost 6 offers already, I think. Honestly it’s hard to keep track!)

Are any of you currently moving, or looking for a new home? Hit reply to this email and tell me where you’re headed!

Moving is an incredibly emotional experience, in my opinion, although it ranks fairly low (20 points) on the Life Change Index Scale (The Stress Test). Have you ever seen the Life Change Index Scale? Take a look at it here and see what your score is.

How many of the listed changes are you currently walking through?

Let me know- I’d love to hear about them.

My guess is we all have more stressful situations in our lives than we realize, yet another reason to be gentle and gracious with ourselves!

Okay, ready for The April List?

Two Books I Couldn’t Put Down:

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (I got my hubby to read this within a day after I finished it. He read it morning and night until he was done, it only took him a few days.)

Playing Big by Tara Mohr (also, I found her 10 Rules for Brilliant Women to be exactly what I needed!)

Two Conversations On Spirituality You Don’t Want To Miss:

Brene Brown & Richard Rohr discuss Spirituality, Certitude, and Infinite Love (Part 1 & Part 2)

Jen Hatmaker & Krista Tippett

I consider both Krista Tippett and Richard Rohr my mentors- I could listen to them and soak in their wisdom forever.

Two Anne Lamott Quotes I Can’t Shake:

This one on why we need books:

“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

And then her thoughts on the relationship between who we are and the messes we make:

“Clutter and mess show us that life is being lived...Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation... Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist's true friend. What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

The Instagram Post That Made Me Stop:

Abundance in Three Steps (Also, he’s one of my favorite poets, I have both of his books.)

An Article I Shared With My Husband:

(Especially as we are about to leave acreage and move back into the city!)

Delight Per Acre by Strong Towns. Here’s a little snippet…

“For most of human history, cities were remarkably small by today's standards. This does not mean they were never populous. Ancient Rome at its peak had a million inhabitants, but its land footprint was almost unfathomably modest compared to what we would expect of a city of a million (say, Jacksonville) today.

This wasn't because our ancestors culturally prized small spaces more than we do. It was, rather, for a pragmatic reason: because people walked. Everything you needed for life had to be accessible on foot in a reasonable amount of time.”

Two Daily-ish Rituals Bringing Me Life:

Our Evening Walks (with kids) and Morning Talks (just us).

We’ve been catching sunsets like this one a couple times a week.

A Podcast on Friendship That Brought Great Relief:

Notes on Floating by Rob Bell

“Currents do their own thing. So, ya, you can paddle…drag your hands, try to slow your thing down so people can catch up to you. You can paddle, you can try to catch up to somebody. You can try to steer a little bit here and there. But all of these movements are happening within a greater current that you cannot control. Notice what this image does if you think about it in terms of friendship? It loosens the whole thing up.”

My Favorite Way To Make Pancakes:

Sheet Pan Banana Pancakes

This recipe makes feeding pancakes to 4 hungry children much easier because they’re done at exactly the same time, no waiting on the next batch!

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I’ll stop here for now! I hope you pick a few of the links above to bookmark and save for later.

Be sure to find me on Instagram and on Art of Adventure where I continue to write about the process of our sacred evolution, cherishing mystery, and moving forward with joy.

My last few articles on the blog are below. Enjoy!

LIFE IS HARD AND HERE ARE 5 REVELATIONS TO HELP YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH LIFE AGAIN.

6 WAYS TO AWAKEN YOUR INNER TREE HUGGER)

3 CONCEPTS TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE A QUITTER & NEED TO GET BACK ON YOUR FEET AGAIN, QUICKLY.

MY TOP 4 METHODS FOR LEARNING ALMOST ANYTHING FOR FREE.

Traveling with you into the next adventure,

Charissa