2020 Year-end Reflection + 2021 Q1 Intentions

I’ve been using the month of January as a transition month, letting the seeds that were planted in various year-end reflections begin to grow tiny roots.

Now that there’s been some space, I’m placing a bookmark here today, so that future-me will have a place to turn back to.

Looking Back on 2020

I’ll start with a zoomed-out version of the year, looking at some of the bigger themes and happenings that arose in each of my personal seasons. If anyone’s new here and looking for a bit more context, here are my reflection posts from the past year:

2019 Year-End Reflection + 2020 Focuses
2020: Reflecting – Q1
2020: Reflecting – April
2020: Reflecting – Q2
2020: Reflecting – August
2020: Reflecting – Q3 Read more

2020: The Year in Books

Per usual, books provided great company for me this year. Below I’ve chosen some to recommend; my full Year in Books on Goodreads is here.

Shoutout to Bookshop.org

This past summer and fall, I found myself buying a lot more brand new books than my usual—which is all secondhand or library. Following the example of my friend Liz, I bought these all on bookshop.org and stopped buying books on Amazon. (My brother Luke has stopped using Amazon completely; I’m not quite there yet, but am close. PS—If you’re reading and wondering why should you stop shopping at Amazon?, here’s a quick starting place, found from a google.)

So anyway, Bookshop.org is neat in that your purchase is made from small, local bookstores. I bought most of mine from Semicolon, a Black- & woman-owned bookshop in Chicago (which I learned of again thanks to Liz). Read more

Outgoing Mail: December 2020

Here’s some of the mail I sent out in December:

The envelopes are made in this fashion, cut from old book pages and wall calendar images. I make these so often that I don’t trace a template anymore! Simply make a series of folds to get the basic shape, then cut away the parts I know need to be cut away.

Spread some love, send a letter!