Hi Cafe! Welcome back to another edition of Monthly Wins! To make things a bit easier, I’ve included links so you can jump around the article.
THIS MONTH’S THEME: RUNAWAY
✨ Media Consumed My Heart, Soul, and Mind
✨ Something to Remember the Month by?
✨ Creation is Key!
Pottery
My month-long project is finally complete! After painstakingly crafting, restarting and trying again, my creation LIVES! I’ll post some pictures soon of the completed project - I think it turned out really well!
Writing
I’ve managed to stick to my new writing schedule! 2 essays per week! Let me know - what do you all think of the 2 posts per week?
✨ Media Consumed My Heart, Soul, and Mind
Reading
💫 Empire of AI by Karen Hao: CURRENT READ
Did NOT get to read much this month! Unfortunately, my life became crazy and chaotic, and I needed to spend my energy elsewhere. I’m still in the middle of Empire of AI - taking diligent notes along the way - so look forward to that review next Month!
Essays
Some Quotes that helped me this month! Find the Articles below in Recommended Reading!
Watching
Alice reiterates the story of the Fig Tree by Sylvia Plath. She explains her POV while dealing with a similar circumstance - not being able to pick a Fig from the tree because we want to do it all. She brings up the Odyssey Plan; a way to design your life to try as many figs as possible. Broken into 3 parts:
✨ The Expected Path: current projection of life - if you took your life and didn’t change a thing, how would that pan out?
✨ The Alternate Path: say the expected path didn’t work out - what other lifestyles could you choose?
✨ The Wild Card Path: without any concerns or obligations - what is your dream path?
Now, I’ve already written a few pieces on my Alternate Path and not following my Expected path, so I’ll explain what the Wild Card would be.
It should come to absolutely NO ONES shock when I say - I want to own a bookstore. I have a passion for reading and telling stories, and I would love to kind of be the middleman, introducing others to amazing authors and explaining WHY I think they should pick that book up. I want to make a community where everyone can get together and read and discuss books!
Alice also brings up the “Yearning Octopus” by Tim Urban. First, I LOVE THAT NAME. It’s a cute lil octopus, each arm represents something different you need to fulfill. The Yearning Octopus helps us identify the areas of our lives that need balance. I’ll link the website here, check it out!
Okay I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this video! Janapasabi has created a fun new way to visualize your goals in your journal. She breaks it down into 6 categories:
✨ What I’m Scared of
✨ What It’s Costing Me
✨ Why It’s Not That Bad
✨ How I’m Fighting It
✨ OPTIONAL: How It Made Me Feel
✨Proof Doing the Scary Thing
Take a look at mine below:
Perfectionism is a double-edged sword - yes everything works out when it’s perfect, but you get trapped in the thoughts on how to start. Projects never get to see the light of day because you are worried about the Messy Middle. Art by Bet explains three examples of where a person needs to rid themselves of their perfectionist ideas and just START. Because honestly, starting is the hardest part. For a perfectionist, starting is staring at a blank page and seeing all the possible ways it can go WRONG, not the ways it can go RIGHT. I thoroughly enjoyed this video, and I’d give it 12/10 stars for its production and message!
The rest of the videos I watched are linked HERE: May Inspiration!
✨ Something to Remember the Month by?
I spent a lot of time with family and friends this month! I doubled down writing my essays - posting 2x a week now! A lot of positive changes and some not-so-great stuff too. I’ll explain further what I mean.
This month’s theme is Runaway.
Runaway - like a train that can’t be stopped.
Runaway - from all the bad things happening.
Runaway - an unexpected triumph.
A lot of good and bad things happened in my life during May. It was truly a month of Chaos. I started the month, already with last month’s energy to keep writing. I started posting 2x a week. Some essays took a while to research, others straight from the heart. I’m starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel - the Train finally has a direction to head in.
Friends - I’ve spent so much time with them this month! Each day bringing more and more laughter - I’m glad I reached out to them. I can’t wait to spend even more time together.
Family - We’ve been each other’s rocks this month as lots of things happened. But even though it was tumultuous times and I’ve wanted to run away from it all - my family remained my anchors, helping keep me afloat.
The folks I’ve told about my writing have all been supportive, giving me the energy to keep running towards my goals. For that, I say a BIG THANK YOU. You truly don’t know how much your support means to me. I’ve been stuck in my head and not moving forward; with your support I can finally get that push to run towards my dreams. They don’t seem as scary with you all behind me.
☕ What’s Next for the Cafe
Here’s the Calendar for June! I’ll include this in every Monthly Recap so that you know what’s ahead! I’ve moved to posting on Tuesday and Thursdays from now on! This gives me more time to write and reflect on what’s working/ not working for me!
New Section! Espresso Yourself - the new section for all my Journal Prompt Essays!
I’ve also turned on subscriptions! I know monthly subscriptions don’t work for everyone so I’ve created a tip jar so you can show your support for the Chatty Cafe! If you’ve read something you really liked, please consider leaving a tip - it’s totally OPTIONAL!
And that, my dear Reader, wraps up May! How was your time spent? Let me know in the comments and please share your May Wins!
🔖 Read Something Else?
This was a lovely read! Thank you for sharing what you have been up to and how you are approaching things! <3