Today’s guest is Katy O who writes The Mindful Librarian here on Substack. If you’re looking for book recommendations, cute dog photographs and musings on slow living, check out her Substack. Katy has a paid option that gives readers a deeper look into her reading life, more book recommendations, and provides PDF downloads of book lists.
It's not an easy thing to do, Karen, in this age of being labeled "basic" and when social media mocks everyone for pretty much everything, but it's worth it! I have been off of Instagram since the end of May and it has been SO GOOD for my self confidence and sense of ease in this world.
Fortunately I never got into insta. I am only on fb. Don't like it but only use it for my network and a lot of my friends use meta. Hoping to be completely free of it at some point. ;0)
i know what you mean baout it not being easy. I fidn the hardest people to go against are family. Having had me at the beck and call for years they still kind of expect it to continue and I have been having to be more aware of my limits and boundaries and letting them know.
Love this: Whenever I ask my Oma how she’s feeling, she will list her pains and exclaim that she doesn’t recommend getting old. Without fail, she will follow that with, “but it’s better than the alternative!”.
And also this: “I am done with my years of tempering my enthusiasm to fit in with society.”
So lovely to meet you, Katy! Off to check out your Substack! I love me some good books!!
It’s a favorite on days when I wake up already overwhelmed with a full schedule of teaching, meetings, and kid activities - just thinking of just that one thing is calming in itself 🥰
There are so many gems of wisdom here. I think the one that resonated the most with me is to write something, anything every day. I recently got rid of a lifetime of journals (I wrote an article about that) and am starting over. There are a ton of different reasons for that and Katy inspired me to commit to a daily practice.
I also appreciate her reminder that we all have parts of our day that are frantic and that is a good place to start to shift into a slower mode. That will be my homework for the week.
I'm definitely interested in your story about getting rid of your old journals - I will definitely look for it! I'm finding so much more peace with my daily practice, and find myself turning to oversharing and seeking approval so much less now. I used to post on Instagram stories constantly, often with thoughts that would have been best kept in a journal, not a public forum. I now realize that a journal is the best place for those immediate musings, and only after pondering them should I release them to the public. As for the frantic parts of our day, we'll all have them, no matter how slow we try to make our lives :-) During the school year, those times are before leaving for work, lunchtime, and early evening, so as the new school year begins soon, I will be focusing on finding the small calming things I can do to make them marginally slower. Thanks so much for commenting, Donna!
The article about releasing my journals is the first one I put behind the paywall (scary🤣). I will see if I can pull it out of there so it is accessible for you to read.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this Katy, thank you for sharing 💜
I'm totally with you on the daily journalling. I've also built the habit these past few months and it's had such a positive impact on me, on my mindset, and how I go about my day. And it's also helped with my writing! Win win 😄
I kick myself for not starting sooner, but I wasn’t able to commit before participating in a list-making journaling course with daily prompts - it was just what I needed to overcome the fear of a blank page!
Dear Katy,
Love this! 'I am done with my years of tempering my enthusiasm to fit in with society.'
Yes yes bloody yes!
Thanks for sharing.
Love Karen xx
It's not an easy thing to do, Karen, in this age of being labeled "basic" and when social media mocks everyone for pretty much everything, but it's worth it! I have been off of Instagram since the end of May and it has been SO GOOD for my self confidence and sense of ease in this world.
Fortunately I never got into insta. I am only on fb. Don't like it but only use it for my network and a lot of my friends use meta. Hoping to be completely free of it at some point. ;0)
i know what you mean baout it not being easy. I fidn the hardest people to go against are family. Having had me at the beck and call for years they still kind of expect it to continue and I have been having to be more aware of my limits and boundaries and letting them know.
Love this: Whenever I ask my Oma how she’s feeling, she will list her pains and exclaim that she doesn’t recommend getting old. Without fail, she will follow that with, “but it’s better than the alternative!”.
And also this: “I am done with my years of tempering my enthusiasm to fit in with society.”
So lovely to meet you, Katy! Off to check out your Substack! I love me some good books!!
Thank you so much ☺️
I love the journal prompt you shared Katy of ‘What can I do to make today more peaceful?’ I’m going to try to utilize that in my day! 🌿
It’s a favorite on days when I wake up already overwhelmed with a full schedule of teaching, meetings, and kid activities - just thinking of just that one thing is calming in itself 🥰
I loved this prompt too! 🤍
There are so many gems of wisdom here. I think the one that resonated the most with me is to write something, anything every day. I recently got rid of a lifetime of journals (I wrote an article about that) and am starting over. There are a ton of different reasons for that and Katy inspired me to commit to a daily practice.
I also appreciate her reminder that we all have parts of our day that are frantic and that is a good place to start to shift into a slower mode. That will be my homework for the week.
Thanks for a wonderful interview Katy and Sophie.
I'm definitely interested in your story about getting rid of your old journals - I will definitely look for it! I'm finding so much more peace with my daily practice, and find myself turning to oversharing and seeking approval so much less now. I used to post on Instagram stories constantly, often with thoughts that would have been best kept in a journal, not a public forum. I now realize that a journal is the best place for those immediate musings, and only after pondering them should I release them to the public. As for the frantic parts of our day, we'll all have them, no matter how slow we try to make our lives :-) During the school year, those times are before leaving for work, lunchtime, and early evening, so as the new school year begins soon, I will be focusing on finding the small calming things I can do to make them marginally slower. Thanks so much for commenting, Donna!
The article about releasing my journals is the first one I put behind the paywall (scary🤣). I will see if I can pull it out of there so it is accessible for you to read.
I have removed the paywall so you are able to read the full article about how/why I got rid of a lifetime of journals.
Just read and commented! Thank you so much for gifting us access to the piece ❤️
Thank you so much for your interest!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this Katy, thank you for sharing 💜
I'm totally with you on the daily journalling. I've also built the habit these past few months and it's had such a positive impact on me, on my mindset, and how I go about my day. And it's also helped with my writing! Win win 😄
I kick myself for not starting sooner, but I wasn’t able to commit before participating in a list-making journaling course with daily prompts - it was just what I needed to overcome the fear of a blank page!