What We Learned in February

Welcome to What We Learned, a regular practice we engage in together as we learn the value of looking back before moving forward. No lesson is too small to share in this space, as you will quickly see when you read my list.

Here are 6 things I learned in February:

1. I agree with Elizabeth Gilbert: I am allowed to be here.

I didn’t know I had been denying my own personhood in certain areas of my life. It took this piece of art-work to expose that bad habit and begin to transform my perspective in that area.

 

2. Grownups don’t have to finish books if they don’t want to.

I know many of you have learned this one already, but I have this thing about starting books and feeling like I need to finish them. But this month? I have decided to stop doing that – or at least to stop letting it bother me.

 

3. Jessica’s Theme from The Man from Snowy River is just as lovely today as it was in high school.

The summer after 10th grade, I spent hours learning to play Jessica’s Theme on my upright piano. The song came to mind a few days ago and within minutes I printed the sheet music and sat down. My hands remember a lot more than I thought they would.

 

4. Water in Canada tastes different than water in Greensboro.

I had tap water, bottled water, and water at a restaurant – it all tasted the same, as if there was a layer of something coating it. I brought a bottled water home to John and made him taste it too. Hmmm…it tastes thick. Yep. Is this a thing?

5. Amelie’s French Bakery never closes.

I went there for the first time with my sister and some friends a few weekends ago and learned that the NoDa location in Charlotte never closes – not once! 24/7/365! So it’s basically just like the Waffle House except it’s French.

6. There are some great books releasing in 2016.

A large percentage of the books I’ve listed here focus on living life right where you are, embracing the small, and slowing down. I smell a trend and I like it.