Sunday Post: Inspiration & Airshows

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimba, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and gives us all a chance to recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. 

I thought for sure we would all be blown across the park Saturday morning by the wind. Or at least my daughter, as light as she is. It turned out to be a lovely day, and we enjoyed our time at the park. Sunday will likely be a lazy day. There's a house that needs to be cleaned and I wouldn't mind getting some reading done. We'll see.

What are your plans for the day? How was your week?

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

Where do you find motivation and inspiration for your blog? (submitted by Ana) 

My love for reading is my ultimate inspiration. Years ago I began keeping a reading journal in which I jotted down my thoughts about the books I read--how they made me feel and how I related to them. It gave me a chance to not only reflect on the books, but also organize my thoughts about each one. I felt a sense of closure in the process. That did not change when I switched to blogging about my reading instead. It's replaced my journal, in a sense. Or, rather, become my journal. What keeps me blogging about books is my passion for books, the enjoyment I get from writing about them, and the connection I have found among other passionate readers.

Other things inspire me as well. It could be a comment someone makes on mine or someone else's blog, another's blog post, something I read in a book, or even something that happens to me in real life. My daughter, certainly. My husband. You. Ultimately, it always comes back to the books. My blog is a book blog, after all. I have tried to branch out from that as some other bloggers have, but ultimately, I find I am most comfortable writing and talking about books.

You could also say I am most motivated by the books I read. Although, a lot of credit goes to the blogging community whose enthusiasm and support has made me feel at home. Even when I am at my lowest, wondering if it is worth continuing, someone says something somewhere--most often not even directed at me--and it motivates me to hang on and keep going. I long ago gave up looking at my blog stats, and I stopped following the advice of those "how to be a good blogger" lists. It was such a freeing decision and increased my motivation tenfold. Blogging when I want and how I want, not worrying about how many followers I have or how other people think I should blog has taken off some of the pressure and stress I was feeling. I am just where I need to be.

I cannot deny though that comments are wonderful. I love it when people take the time to leave a comment. It definitely helps motivate and inspire me--knowing someone is out there reading what I have to say.

What about you? What motivates and inspires you to blog?

What I Am Reading: I looked all over my house for my copy of Seraphina by Rachel Hartman and couldn't find it. I could have sworn I had a copy. I was anxious to start it, craving something in the fantasy genre. Here I had been telling everyone I have had my copy for years . . . Well, where it is it??  I ended up buying another copy--and expect the old one to show up any minute. But before that happened, I went ahead and started Nadia Hashimi's When the Moon Is Low, a fiction novel about an Afghani woman whose husband is murdered by the Taliban and flees with her children, hoping to reach Europe. Not fantasy, no. It is good so far though. Seraphina will definitely be next. 

What I Am Watching: I began watching the second season of Daredevil, although I have to admit it's not holding my interest much. The last couple episodes served as background noise more than anything else. Does anyone else watch Blacklist? I did not see that coming. Not at all. Do you think it's true? We watched The Pirate Fairy again. It really is a cute movie, but there is such a thing as watching a movie too much. Oh! And we are enjoying Doctor Who still. We are a couple more episodes in to Season 8. I really like the new Doctor even if he's rough around the edges. Listen was such a great episode.

We also got to see some of the airshow from my daughter's bedroom window this weekend. I am a huge Thunderbirds fan, and never tire of seeing them perform. I was glad to be able to share that with Mouse this year. I actually got to see them practicing, along with several other planes, this past week as they prepared for the airshow. My office is right next to the base where the airshow is being held.

Thunderbirds

Around the Blogosphere:

• Jamie from The Broke and the Bookish talks about a side of reading that has fallen to the wayside
• Charlie contemplates the definition of classics: ‘A Classic Is A Book That Hasn’t Finished Saying What It Has To Say’

What's Going On Off the Blog: It is official. My little girl is enrolled in kindergarten. There is an parent orientation early next month. It's not at the most convenient time for a working parent, but it isn't like I haven't encountered that before. I also got her enrolled in an after school program. You may remember my mentioning touring a couple of those programs I was considering.

Last Sunday was our last visit to Disneyland for awhile. Our annual passes have now officially expired. We very nearly renewed them, but there are a number of places and things we would like to do this year, and having the money to do them will be nice.

Mouse at Disneyland

Saturday was the first soccer class of the new season. Mouse moved up in age groups, and she's back to being the youngest. The class is also at a later time, which means sleeping in (yay!) and hotter days (ugh!). She was very nervous, but in the end she had fun. I think she'll be happy to go back next week. Whew.

Mouse playing soccer

Work was a less stressful this past week. No lives lost that I know of, and I managed to get through to the weekend. I think my husband even had a better week at his office. 

This Past Week In Reading Mews:

• Sunday Post: Hobbies, Diving Into History & My April TBR List Winner
• Terrible Virtue by Ellen Feldman
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (04/12/2016)

I hope you all have a great week! Happy Reading!

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© 2016, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.