Friday Cozies – Week 8 of 2020

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have some cozy goodness planned. I’m going to the library tomorrow morning and am going to load up on some books that I’ve been hoping to read for quite some time. I cannot wait!

On Fridays I like to share a few snippets of things that have caught my attention throughout the week. I hope you find a few things to pique your interest and that you might be able to incorporate into your weekend!

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Despite loving it, I never watched the final season of Downton Abbey. I often skip the last season of my favorite shows because I get really sad about the endings. If I can spare myself that sadness, then I will! But I really want to see the new Downton Abbey movie, yet my husband has given a firm no – not until we finish the series. To make him happy, we’ve been watching the last season and… it’s even better than I remember! Why did I wait so long to watch this?! I’m hoping we’ll be caught up by Sunday night and will be able to finally rent the movie.

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It seems like a lot of us are looking for ways to cut back on social media and ensure that we are mindful of our time spent online. All of this reminds me of Cal Newport’s work – he writes about staying focused despite all of the noise and distractions. In addition, I signed up for his Study Hacks emails last year after finishing Digital Minimalism and really enjoy them. It’s helpful to have that random reinforcer to remind me that scrolling through my phone is most likely not helpful to me in the moment. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I’ve been working on my next post about being present, which is my word of the year for 2020.

I started this post early on Wednesday morning and then this post was delivered to my inbox, which is one of the most thoughtful reflections on Deep Work that I’ve read. It’s giving me the courage to be a bit more drastic about Instagram. And it reminds me that I need to reread Deep Work!

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You may know that I started reading the Bible every day over the summer. I’ve often mentioned my skepticism about the Bible, yet I keep reading for many reasons: because I want to understand more about our American culture and how people’s religious beliefs are affecting our current politics, it’s the foundation of so many people’s lives, I’m hoping that it will help me on my own journey to seek wisdom, and I want to put my finger on why exactly religion is so difficult for me. I’m especially puzzled by the sudden shift of support by many religious people from treasuring family values to overlooking those in order to achieve… what, exactly? I have no intention of getting political on this blog and I don’t say that as a judgment – I’m just genuinely confused.

So I’ve decided to go straight to the Jesus source for Lent. I’m going to read through all of the Gospels – my plan is written on the index card above. If I’ve done the math correctly, then Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John can be read in their entirety throughout Lent by reading 2 chapters a day throughout the season and three on Holy Thursday. So that’s my tall order through this Lenten season – all of the Gospels. Lent starts next Wednesday, February 26th and goes through Thursday, April 9. Easter is on the following Sunday, April 12. I don’t think reading through the Gospels will be the magic wand for me, but at least I’ll have something to build from.

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And that’s all that I have for you today. It’s cold here in New Hampshire, so it’s the perfect weekend to curl up with hot drinks, good movies, great books, and piles of wool. And to dream about spring!