Balance in 2021: February

Your eyes do not deceive you -- this is a rare Monday post from me. It's the last Monday of the month (yes, really!), and today Carolyn is hosting us for our monthly One Little Word link-up. So today is my day to reflect on Balance and the role it's been playing in my life this past month.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about Balance as it applies to my reading life and how I can be more focused and intentional in what I read. I've been inspired by Mary and her effort to "read better" this year. For so much of my life, the reading I do for pleasure has been almost exclusively focused on just that, pleasure, and my choice of what to read next has largely been dictated by what's caught my eye. But in the more recent past, and this year especially, I am trying to be more discerning in what I choose to read, with the hope that I can strike a balance between reading that is strictly for pleasure and reading that helps me grow in some way. This means reading nonfiction as well as fiction and reading voices that are typically less amplified in our society.

Here is a snapshot of my 2021 reading shelf thus far:

It's obviously hard to get a good handle on how well I'm doing only two months into the year, but if this is representative of the trends of the year to come, I think I'm doing pretty well: Six of these titles are by authors of color. Eight are nonfiction. Ten are by female authors. One is a work in translation.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, I hope to continue to diversify the books on my Read shelf. Specifically, I want to read more books by authors of color, more nonfiction that helps me to educate myself about racism and anti-racism, and more books that challenge my perspectives and that are outside my sphere of experience.

Reading is part of my 21 in 2021 list as well, and I've been able to cross a few items off that list this month. To date, I've completed six items on my list thus far:
- Bake challah
- Sew a project bag
- Knit or crochet a toy
- Read a biography/autobiography
- Spin the oldest fiber in my stash
- Knit five items for charity

I've got plans to cross off a few more in the next month or so, too, and I like how this list is helping me to balance (see what I did there?) how I choose to spend my leisure time.

I look forward to hearing about how your One Little Word has been making itself known in your life this past month, and I'll see you back here tomorrow for a regular post.