A Year of Resolve : Real Books & More

2025... is my year of resolve. 

In February this year, I wrote a post on slow living. I was feeling overwhelmed with the pace of life, the influence of social media, even the slow life is being romanticised unrealistically. With the rise of AI, we are in more danger of losing our jobs, skills, talents, original thought and ideas.

I keep seeing people pushing how you can use AI to generate whole books and courses with just a few prompts. Well my question is, where is the real connection that the reader forges with the author through the ART of storytelling through their unique command of words and language?

Are we entering another 'dark age' without realising it? An age where we hand over original thought and talent to AI and stop thinking for ourselves altogether? Where we stop creating and rely on AI generated art, books and stories?

I am not a complete luddite, I do see how these things can be helpful and beneficial, but I fear that we will lose more than we gain. There is no going back, we have no choice but to hang onto the train of progress for it is moving forward whether we like it or not and we are going to have to fit in.

But I think this is precisely all the more reason to live with resolve. To be purposeful in how we choose to live life. In being purposeful in our choices and remaining grounded enough to not lose sight of the importance of old-fashioned skills and slow ways.

All this fits into my year of resolve. A purposeful return to gentle things, real things.A purposeful relationship in faith with Christ. A purposeful return to the gentle art of homemaking. To learning new skills and returning to the gentle rhythms of the home.

Real Books

I mentioned in this post that I intended to read only 'real' books this year. Well, that resolve quickly grew and it seems to have taken on a whole new wonderful momentum.

I am enjoying visiting my local library, browsing the shelves and choosing a great big pile of books. What I'm enjoying more, is building my very own library at home! 

You see, visiting the library and seeing all those wonderful books seemed to awaken something in me. I've always loved reading books. My dad used to call me 'Horizontal Harriet' because I was always lying on my bed or under a tree reading a book.

What I love about them (books) are the worlds authors create.  I am transported into a land that is simply quite magical and I get to share in the adventures with the most marvellous characters, who become lifelong friends.

As a homeschooling family we have always had a deep love for and a lot of books. At the moment, most of our books are in boxes. I'd love to say it's down to our pending move, but it's not. 

They have been in boxes for a number of years because I have not made space for them. I have not been mindful and purposeful in giving them a home since our homeschooling days drew to a close.

Typing those last few sentences actually made me quite sad!

My latest acquisitions for my home library

So I am glad that my simple step of going back to the library initiated this new journey...a journey to curating a home library and writing.

I have been purposefully seeking out new titles, buying real books - hardcover if possible, I prefer hardcover. 

In our new home we have a lot of space, space to have a home library, not just a small corner, but enough space to have a couple of floor to ceiling bookshelves.

I've treated myself to British Library Crime Classics subscription. Each month a box arrives with a new classic crime book and a beautiful vintage print which I plan on framing once I have a set of 6 for my home office.

A Writer's Almanac

The momentum continues...

At age 9 I submitted a story I wrote to a competition the local newspaper was holding and won! Right then and there I knew that I wanted to be an author. 

I've always loved writing. I am a writer. I write here on my blog. I write for a homeschooling nature study publication. I have a huge bag full of journals that I have kept over the years. I keep a nature journal. I am a writer.

I realised that I need to write to be happy. To be who I was created to be. To make sense of this world we live in. To create. 

And so I am.

I've been exploring letting go and embracing new beginnings. I've started a dedicated writers blog/newsletter on Substack, a platform for writers. You can read my first post called New Beginnings Are Hard.

I've rebranded my YouTube Channel to be more in keeping with who I am. A woman of faith, a writer, homemaker, observer of the seasons and nature lover.

At the moment I'm uploading short videos and plan on creating longer content videos after our house move. The content will not be solely focussed on knitting as it was, it will be much broader. 

I plan on taking you with me on nature walks, giving you behind the scenes peeks into my nature journal, my writing, my seasonal living and home, and so on.

You can subscribe to my YouTube Channel HERE, and to my Substack here. If you are on Instagram, you can follow my writing account called @shirleyannvelswriter

Anyhoo, I think that about wraps up this bookish post. If you are fellow bibliophile or writer, I hope that you will join me on my journey on any of those channels. If not, I shall see you back here very soon.

It's The Simple Things That Count

Materialism is an ever-constant assault on our senses. It's everywhere. All the time. Trying to convince us that happiness and contentment can be bought. 

I was scrolling through my archives and found this post that I wrote in 2015. I couldn't help but think how much pressure to 'have more to have happiness' has increased with the growth of social media and influencers since writing this post.

 

Honestly, it's exhausting to be constantly told how to 'find happiness'. Ultimately, the people who are trying to convince us of their wealth = happiness gospel are doing so because it has a direct correlation to their own bank balance!

So, I thought it may be a good time to re-publish this post as timely reminder to rebalance our thoughts and hearts on what truly matters in life.

From the Archives:

In today's post I wanted to share some lovely simple things from my week that have made me happy. It seems to have become a bit of a ponderous post for me though after our read-aloud time this morning. So instead of speaking about those lovely simple things, I will pen out my thoughts and pepper this post with pictures of them instead.

I am reading the book 'Daddy-Long-Legs' by Jean Webster to my girls during our read-aloud time. In today's reading the main character, Judy, writes to Daddy-Long-Legs of her first visit to New York. She writes,

 "I can't imagine any joy in life greater than sitting down in front of a mirror and buying any hat you choose without having first to consider the price! There's no doubt about it, Daddy; New York would rapidly undermine this fine stoical character which the John Grier Home so patiently built up."

Her very next letter sees her in a more rational frame of mind. Daddy Long-legs evidently sent her a cheque after reading her letter, but she returns the cheque with a note explaining why she cannot accept the money, she writes, 

" I am sorry that I wrote all that silly stuff about the millinery shop; it's just that I had never seen anything like it before."

I'm sure we can all find a time in our life when we felt like Judy. It is so easy to get sucked into a world of materialism. I usually try to avoid shopping malls that hold every top brand name, or those streets in London that house the same. It sucks you in and you begin to feel a little like Judy. I know what she means when she says that *New York (*fill in your own city/mall/shopping weakness here) would undermine her stoic character.

Materialism is a terribly enticing and bad master and the truth is that shopping up a storm or adding 'stuff' to your name does not make you a happier person. Unfortunately we spend our lives having advertising companies bombarding us with messages on why we will only ever be happy if we buy x-y or z.

The best way of counteracting this is to cultivate a spirit of thankfulness for what we have and appreciating the simple things in life. 

There are many, many things to be thankful for and appreciate if you just look around you. Here are some of mine this week:

* The good health of everyone in my family

* BBQ's on a warm spring evening

* Nature walks with my children

* New life springing out from all quarters every single day

* A roof over our heads and food in our tummies

* A good job to keep us in above-stated condition :)

* Being able to sit quietly and work in my nature journal

* Good friends to talk to

* Happy memories of family holidays and times together

* Living in England! I love this country and feel blessed to be here

* Seasons - I love the seasons

* Birdsong - how can you not be cheered when you stop to listen to them

* Buzzy bumble-bees and fluttery butterflies - all out in the sunshine

* Washing dancing in the wind as it dries outside on the washing line

* Freshly cut lawn

* Clouds scudding across the blue sky

* Blossoms and blooms - they are everywhere at the moment

* The feel of my fountain pen moving over paper as I write in journal entries

* Reading good books together with my children and for myself. We have many wonderful memories of books read together. I'm so grateful that I have given my children a living-books rich curriculum

* Jumping on the trampoline with my daughter and laughing until our sides hurt

* Eating ice-creams outside in the warm sunshine

* Seeing the Cowslips blooming - they are so sweet, I love them.

I could go on but I fear I might bore you LOL. But I'm sure that as you read my list you will see that none of the things I have listed as precious and thankful memories and moments have cost very much or anything at all.

In a world that seems to have gone half-crazy on materialism, I'm immensely grateful that its the simple things in life that make me most happy.

A blessed Thursday to you all...