Magazines can be helpful!

As well as my addiction to books I also have a growing addiction to magazines - can't get enough of them! Now that we have a local Borders store my addiction for the latest UK and American magazines can be met.

A recent purchase was the latest edition of the O at Home magazine which contains an article written by the author Ann Patchett titled "One Woman's Work". Ann writes about the battle to sustain your creative endeavours when also required to take on board the role of wife and house cleaner. This is a constant theme for me in my life - not that I'm a wife and nor do I consider myself much of a housecleaner! But I guess I'm really just really focusing on the "chores'' and duties of everyday life and how they can begin to take over - if you let them.

Ann writes;

While I had nothing but respect for homemakers, I knew I was never going to be one. Sure, I aced home ec, but it was Bellow and Roth I had really fallen for. As soon as chores were done, I would throw myself across my neatly made bed and read. I planned to follow in the footsteps of Jane Austen and Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor - no children, no husband.

The article is really inspiring and interesting to read as Ann Patchett seems to have found a way to reconcile the different requirements of her life;

When I was a child, I had a strong idea of what a writer looked like (a lonely garret in Paris, a neatly mended cardigan) and what a housewife looked like (a blur of helpful activity). But seeing as how both images are born of useless cliches, I think it's time I stopped trying to live up to either one of them.

Sounds like good advice to me - although I still rather like the sound of that lonely garret in Paris...

The Fairy Godmother Meme

I saw this meme over at Charlotte's Web and it was first developed by Aphra Behn - looks like a fun thing to think about given the gift giving and receiving season is about to be upon us!

What good gift did your Fairy Godmother actually give you?
I would have to say persistence - I tend to keep going and going until I get what I want (or what I need).
What good gift do you wish she’d given you instead?
I'd like to hold on to the persistence but I wish I also had a little patience.
What bad gift did the wicked Fairy give you?
The gift of procrastination - I have this one in droves so I feel like some others are probably missing out - I've taken their allocation!
What bad gift do you wish she’d given you?
Selfishness - or at the very least the ability to say no more often.
And finally: if you could have one magical item, what would it be?
Definitely a magic wand!

Gift From The Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I had never heard of Gift From The Sea before until I read about it in a book I read earlier in the year, The Piazzas of Florence, where the author quoted from it frequently.
Gift From The Sea is a gorgeous little book, first published in 1955 I think a lot of it's main messages remain relevant to women today. The book is basically a reflective piece of writing by the author or what it means (for her) to be a woman in "today's" society - the difficulties of finding a balance between work and home life, finding time for the different roles that encapsulate who we are but also finding time for ourselves to just be. I was taken aback by how much this book spoke to me in the present day when I realised that it had been written over 50 years ago!

The author talks about how rare it is to be able to find time to ourselves and how undervalued this time actually is:

If one sets aside time for a business appointment, a trip to the hairdresser, a social engagement, or a shopping expedition, that time is accepted as inviolable. But if one says: I cannot come because that is my hour to be alone, one is considered rude, egotistical or strange

This message is accompanied by one that demonstrates just how full we make our lives:

The space is scribbled on; the time has been filled. There are so few empty pages in my engagement pad, or empty hours in the day, or empty rooms in my life in which to stand alone and find myself. Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well.

I don't feel that the author necessarily talks about solutions for these issues but the read is a thought provoking one.

Looking into the Future...

I'm always a little wary of the "self-help" array of books. That's not to say that I haven't found some really helpful and useful ones - I've just also seen some very dodgy ones!

I found this recent purchase in a small gift shop in one of my town's popular cafe streets and thought it might come in handy given I have been doing a lot of thinking about where my life is heading at the moment. Any instruction and advice willing to be received at this point in time!

5 is one of those books that is set to become a classic. It's the kind of book that comes with exciting possibilities and fresh starts. A books that rouses you to map out your course and set your own coordinates.
WHERE WILL YOU BE FIVE YEARS FROM TODAY?
Each year life offers itself to us in an endless number of ways. Each moment comes to us with both hands filled with gifts, marvels, opportunities and adventures, but we seldom see or accept more than a tiny fraction of the exciting possibilities around us. The truth is, most of us are so busy doing what we think we have to do that we never get around to doing what we really want to do.
This book celebrates the "want to's," the "choose to's" and the "I can't wait to's" in your life. Whether you're just finishing school, starting a new venture, celebrating a milestone or envisioning your retirement, you are the hero of this story.This is your life, your one-and-only life. You determine what's possible. Make choices, ask questions, take steps... today is the day.

Sounds interesting!

Reading Italy

Since reading and absolutely loving The Piazzas of Florence I have been dreaming and longing to be in another place - particularly Italy. I'm feeling a little swamped by the dramas of everyday life and work at the moment and I feel an escape (even if only a metaphorical one) is needed.

I do have a CD/Book Italian language program that I bought ages ago and have been meaning to get started on it - I just don't think my brain matter is up to that at the moment!

So, I am searching for books that will take me away to Italy.

Can anyone suggest any great fiction or non-fiction books that are set in Italy to help me on my way?

The Piazzas of Florence - Lisa McGarry

The Piazzas of Florence by Lisa McGarry is my fifth and final book for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge - the completion of which means my first successful completion of a blogging reading challenge - yay!!

To say I am a little in love with this book would not be an overstatement! As I have mentioned before I am slightly obsessed with the idea of Italy - have never been but plans to visit are definitely a huge part of my life goals.

Through this book the author describes and explores her favourite twelve Florence Piazzas (public outdoor spaces). The written section for each Piazza is accompanied by a beautiful hand drawn map of the area which really helps to orientate you to the space that is being described. I can imagine this being a perfect book to take along with you on a trip to Florence to help you explore the area.

The social and political history as well as the current contexts of the city are written about from the viewpoint of the author, an American woman who has now settled in Florence with her young daughter.

At the end of the book the author has provided a reading list of non-fiction and fiction books focussing on Florence as well as other books that have inspired her living and writing. One of the books referred to is Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh which is described by McGarry as "a beautiful book of essays about accepting the joys and challenges of the different stages of a woman's life". At one stage in her book McGarry quotes from Gift From the Sea;

She believed that while woman may always be on call - whether at home or work, as mothers, daughters, partners or friends - it's important to spend some time alone each day, every week and once a year"

At the start of the book Lisa McGarry writes "I fell in love with the idea of Florence long before I came here" thanks to McGarry's book I feel exactly the same way.

Searching for Time

I am totally agreeing with Nova about the need for time - not only time for reading and other important things but time for life in general.

I consider myself a pretty time managed person - I'm organised and structured (sometimes to the point of obsessiveness!) and I have 3, yes 3, diaries. I know where I need to be, when I need to be there and I'm always there. The problem with all of this is that I never seem to have any of that magical stuff known as "free time"! If I try to structure any of that into the equation it just doesn't seem to happen.

I know I shouldn't be complaining - I don't have children, my cat is fairly self-sufficient and my partner really is a gem - but I still struggle to find this precious thing we know as time. I do work full time and have recently started my PhD (if anyone can tell me how to squeeze this one in please let me know!) so I know these things take up energy and time but there needs to be a balance.

My other dilemma is that when I do take some time for myself (i.e. reading) I feel as though I should probably be spending my time in other ways - the guilt settles in!

I know I am really just trying to work this all out, and I'm really the only one who can do anything about this, but any solutions/ideas would be greatly appreciated!

The photo at the top of this post comes from Anna's gorgeous blog - I recommend checking it out if you are wanting to discover bliss in images. I will concentrate on this image and imagine myself in the seat...

Reading Spaces

We had one of our bookclub gatherings yesterday and one of my friends was asking me about my favourite space/place to read. She was saying she just wasn't able to get comfortable and read in bed and she really liked to read outside in her backyard in the sun - but given the winter weather we are currently having in New South Wales that isn't really an option at the moment.

I do like to read in bed but I also like to sleep in bed so I find that unless I am VERY alert I tend to nod off and the reading falls by the wayside. I do have a comfy reading area set up in our lounge room with a cosy chair, reading table and lamp. Will post photos of this another day. I have been inspired by an Australian woman who has set up a business designing special spaces for people based on their particular work/hobby/inspirational needs. The website is http://www.aplaceforspace.com.au/ and I have borrowed the image in this post from there - this looks like a lovely reading space to me.