I took a month-long break from blogging. I removed social media apps from the iPhone and iPad. I looked at social media in the mornings on the laptop and then turned it off. I did not turn the laptop on Sundays.

I learned and implemented several things during the break.

  1. Being away from the (almost) constant scrolling, my mind has a stronger attention span. I don’t feel distracted. I feel calm-less anxious.
  2. I read more.
  3. I don’t plan to re-add social media apps to the iPhone and iPad.
  4. I no longer take part in the Goodreads reading challenge. I already know that I can read over 100 books in a year. Most years the number of books read have far achieved the original goal. I have taken part in the challenge for a decade, it is time to move on, it no longer feels like a challenge but boring.
  5. I am no longer adding books or reviews to Goodreads unless the book is reviewed for someone else.
  6. I don’t look at Twitter unless I believe there is a problem with the posts syncing.
  7. I think about priorities. I ask a fundamental question: What is most important?
  8. I am trying to live a simple life. Maybe you’ve heard people talking about this idea? To live a simple life. I feel the first thing we should ask ourselves is what does this mean or look like to us personally? I will be writing about this in a future post.
  9. I had been thinking and worrying about the number of books read, am I keeping up with reviews, etc. This squeezes the joy out of reading. I’d rather think about the stories themselves. For example, the form or structure of the story and the characters. I plan to dig deeper. I hope the reviews will show the reading development.
  10. I plan to read more mysteries, classics, biographies, and history.
  11. I have dropped The Classics Club reading challenge. I plan to read classics but not as a challenge.

What happened during the month break?

  1. I was sick with a bladder infection. An antibiotic cleared it up.
  2. My husband has struggled with a sinus infection. He is on round 2 of antibiotics. He refuses to use a Neti pot, etc.
  3. Our oldest granddaughter moved 6 hours away to a large university, spent 2 weeks there, disenrolled and moved home. It did not work out.
  4. Our youngest granddaughter started pre-k and loves it.
  5. Our grandson started the 11th grade. He is on the school track team.
  6. It began raining; and temperatures dropped 15 to 20 degrees from what they had been. The rain is refreshing. It is a welcome transition of the summer season changing to autumn.
  7. I began watching Law-and-Order SVU reruns. I started on season 1. I’m now on season 3.
  8. I signed up for Carnegie Hall+ on Apple TV+. I love it! Plus, I can listen to the music while reading.
  9. I discovered a new way to make morning tea. I love this gadget so much I thought it a good idea to buy a second in case the first broke. I bought it at World Market (in the store) for $19.99. It looks similar to a coffee press. It is for loose leaf tea which I often use, but bagged tea can be placed inside the carafe. It makes 2 big cups.

I cannot find the Tea Maker on the World Market website. It may have discontinued. I did find something similar at Witt Clinic. My favorite loose-leaf tea for morning tea-time, bought from Amazon. My favorite bag tea for morning teatime, bought at World Market.

Do you drink coffee or tea or something else?

How do you feel about living a simple life?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.