Meaningful May

The Meaningful May Calendar is from the folks at Action for Happiness, who say:

This month's theme is all about reflecting on what gives our life meaning.  Being a part of something bigger than ourselves and focusing on things that we value is key to our wellbeing.  So let's take time to reflect on what we care about this month and keep these things at the front of our minds as our societies begin to open up again.

May 1 ~ Make a list of what matters most to you and why.
May 2 ~ Do something kind for someone you really care about.

May 3 ~ Focus on what you can do rather than what you can't do.

May 4 ~ Take a step towards an important goal, however small.

May 5 ~ Send your friend a photo from a time you enjoyed together.

May 6 ~ Look for people doing good and reasons to be cheerful.

May 7 ~ Let someone know how much they mean to you and why.

May 8 ~ Set yourself a kindness mission to help others today.

May 9 ~ Notice the beauty in nature, even if you're stuck indoors.

May 10 ~ What values are important to you?  Find ways to use them today.

May 11 ~ Be grateful for the little things, even in difficult times.

May 12 ~ Listen to a favorite piece of music; remember what it means to you.

May 13 ~ Look around for things that bring you a sense of awe and wonder.

May 14 ~ Find out about the values or traditions of another culture.

May 15 ~ Do something to contribute to your local community.

May 16 ~ Look up at the sky.  Remember we are all part of something bigger.

May 17 ~ Show your gratitude to people who are helping to make things better.

May 18 ~ Find a way to make what you do today meaningful.

May 19 ~ Send a hand-written note to someone you care about.

May 20 ~ Reflect on what makes you feel valued and purposeful.

May 21 ~ Share photos of three things you find meaningful or memorable.

May 22 ~ Find a way to help a project or charity you care about.

May 23 ~ Share a quote you find inspiring to give others a boost.

May 24 ~ Recall three things you've done that you are proud of.

May 25 ~ Make choices that have a positive impact for others today.

May 26 ~ Ask someone else what matters most to them and why.

May 27 ~ Remember an event in your life that was really meaningful.

May 28 ~ Focus on how your actions make a difference for others.

May 29 ~ Do something special and revisit it in your memory tonight.

May 30 ~ Today do something to care for the natural world.

May 31 ~ Find three reasons to be hopeful about the future.

Beginning ~ with our chores

Beginning lines

What are care tasks and why are they so hard for people?  Our care tasks are the "chores" of life:  cooking, cleaning, laundry, feeding, dishes, and hygiene.  These may seem like simple or noncomplex tasks to most.  When you actually break down the amount of time, energy, skill, planning, and maintenance that go into our care tasks, we begin to see that they are not always simple.

How to Keep House While Drowning: 31 Days of Compassionate Help ~ by KC Davis, 2020, self-help

Why is it so hard for me to stay on top of my housework?  This book will introduce you to six life-changing principles that will revolutionize the way you approach home care — without endless to-do lists.  Presented in 31 daily thoughts, this compassionate guide will help you begin to get free of the shame and anxiety you feel over home care.  You will learn:

• How to shift your perspective of care tasks from moral to functional.
• How to stop negative self-talk and shame around care tasks.
• How to give yourself permission to rest, even when things aren’t finished.
• How to motivate yourself to care for your space.

KC Davis, licensed professional counselor and mother of two, says:  "I birthed my second baby in a new city right as the world shut down from COVID-19.  Without access to a support network for months on end, I used every tool in my therapy training arsenal and created a self-compassionate way to address my stress, depression, and ever-mounting laundry pile.  After sharing this unique approach on social media, I gained hundreds of thousands followers within a few months.  I realized the shame over not being able to keep up with housework is universal, and that’s why I wrote this book."

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.

You've been ratioed

Word of the Day #1

ratio / 'reɪʃiəʊ / noun = the relationship between two groups of people or things that is represented by two numbers showing how much larger one group is than the other.  Example:  "The ratio of applications to available places currently stands at a hundred to one (100:1)."

Word of the Day #2

ratioed / 'reɪʃiəʊd / verb = on Twitter, getting ratioed is when replies to a tweet vastly outnumber likes or retweets.

According to Urban Dictionary, being ratioed (sometimes spelled "ratio'd") is when a reply to a tweet gets more likes than the tweet it was replying to.  That usually indicates the unpopularity or stupidity of the original tweet.  Example:  "You got 12 likes, and his reply got 271 likes?  He totally ratioed you, bro."

How did I run across this word — for the first time ever, I might add — since I'm not on Twitter?  I read it on Colleen's blog, because she shared something she had seen on Twitter:  "I know I’m going to get ratioed for this but I miss the two spaces after a period."  I still use two spaces after every period here on my blog, because that's the way I was taught to do it in my typing classes back in the 1950s.  So I looked up the word, even though Colleen gave one definition.  Have you ever heard "ratioed" before?

Two questions for TWOsday

Question #1

Google says it's 450 miles from Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee to my current home in St. Louis, Missouri. How far away do you live from the place you were born?

Question #2

What does my favorite number (nine) have to do with my birthday yesterday?  I turned 81, so let's play with the numbers.  First, 8+1=9.  Also, the square root of 81 is 9, which means 9x9=81.  The 450 miles in #1 adds up to nine, too.  4+5+0=9.  I had Sum fun on 09/09/09.    Yes, it's weird for an English major to also love playing with numbers.

Music makers, bookish thoughts, and a challenge

Decades ago, I bought this 6-hole cedar flute in Cherokee, North Carolina.  I've added the beaded feathers to the green felt bag.  Sheila and I were talking about music and musical instruments recently, and I told her about my flute and my kalimba.

Donna gave me this kalimba many years ago.  Clawdia is in the picture because she wanted to play with (not play) the kalimba when I put it on the bed to snap a picture.  It's a small thumb piano with only a single octave on it, unlike the larger mbira also pictured in this blog post from last year.

I'll be reading children's books next week, when these books on hold at my library are delivered:

• Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus ~ by Dusti Bowling, 2017
• Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus ~ by Dusti Bowling, 2019
• Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer ~ by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Natasha Donovan, 2021

Your challenge

If you think your English is good,

I challenge you to write any word

that starts with C and ends with E

One last thought

My favorite independent bookstore

Tell us about your local bookstore.

Is it an independent bookstore?  Or not?  An independent bookstore (also known as an indie bookseller) is a bookstore that is not controlled by a larger bookseller chain.  I have two bookstores nearby, both within walking distance, but they are chain stores:  Half-Price Books is a block north, and Barnes & Noble is a couple of blocks south.  The indie bookstore I loved the most closed down in 2006.

Book Buddies is my own personal favorite indie bookstore, even though it lasted only two years.  Donna and I opened it in late 2004 — and named it for our book friends all over the world who had been discussing Oprah's books online.  This little sign was beside our back door to the parking lot.  Support independent bookstores, or they cannot survive.

24-hour Readathon

Anne at My Head Is Full of Books has put a twist on Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon.  She plans to read 24 hours during the weekend, rather than all in one day, rather than stay up all night.  I will stick with Dewey's twenty-four hours, but I'm sharing Anne's option in case you are interested.  Here's where you sign up to take part.  I'll post my updates on this page, if you want to follow my progress.  Meanwhile, here's a Bingo game for ya!

Opening Survey

1)  What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  St. Louis, Missouri

2)  Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland.  It's a library book I need to return.

3)  Which snack are you most looking forward to?  Triscuits and French onion with bacon dip.  I like salty foods, but they aren't good for my heart and blood pressure.  That's why this is a treat today.

4)  Tell us a little something about yourself.  I'm retired and able to do this regularly.  My cat Clawdia is catnapping the day away and letting me read.

5)  If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?  Although the first 24-Hour Readathon I took part in was in 2007, when Dewey herself was in charge (see Dewey's comments), I haven't participated every year.  I've always enjoyed doing the mini-challenges, but this year I plan to spend my time reading.

Closing Survey           

1)  How would you assess your reading overall?  I didn't do nearly as much reading as I thought I'd do.

2)  Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?  I'm not into "strategy" for reading.  I simply planned to read.  Since reading is what I do most days anyway, I guess I wasn't as inspired as I might have been in other years.  But the reason I read is to enjoy a book, not to achieve a reading goal.

3)  What was your favorite snack?  Talking about snacks during a READ-a-thon has always struck me as irrelevant.  What's snacking got to do with it?  If I'm hungry, I eat.  Period.

4)  Wanna volunteer for our next event?  Nah, I think this was probably the last time I'll bother with this readathon.  What's the point?  It was more fun back when Dewey was doing it, back in the olden days when we were all book bloggers.  Now it's spread out over Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media, and there's no cohesion now.

Word of the Day

co·he·sion / kōˈhēZHən / noun = the action or fact of forming a united whole.  Example:  "Dewey's Readathon lacks the cohesion it once had."