Flannel Jackets & Nutella on Sourdough

go forth and grace yourself

It’s 3:04pm and my brain is mush. 

Now that we’ve started school back for the year my mornings/early afternoons are dedicated to educating a 5th grader and a 2nd grader. Simultaneously. 

“Mom, what does ‘simultaneously’ mean?”

“In this context it means doing more than one thing at the same time.”

He watched his video lesson for math while I taught her that mushrooms and moss start as spores. The dog needed to be let out while they both practiced watercolor painting. He read Tolkien while she drew unicorns and I piled the clean laundry into our bedroom to fold later. I quickly wash up dishes in the sink while discipling two young children on how to speak to one another as image-bearers of God (i.e., with kindness and respect). I sat back down to go over the fundamentals of phonics while instructing one sibling on how to do a proper apology to the other.

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I have been doing a lot of things simultaneously for eight hours. 

This is the time of day when the kids get to play video games or watch tv while I sit down to do work-work (you know, not house-work or school-work). I turn on the robot vacuum, sequester myself in the office before my Great Dane finishes up her nap, and write. Even though my brain is mush. 

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Hobbit Day Approaches

My annual read-through of the Lord of the Rings kicks off next Sunday (Hobbit Day!) and I’m grateful—and a tad overwhelmed—to share that over 300 people have signed up to participate. I’ve been doing this publicly for four years now and this will be our biggest one yet. 

consider this picture your formal invitation from Billie to join us on September 22nd

I recently shared over on Many Meetings (my Tolkien substack) about why I believe reading The Lord of the Rings now can help us navigate the ending of a difficult year. God gave us the Gift of Story for many reasons and I believe wholesome escapism is a practice worth engaging in.¹ And beyond that, returning to Middle-earth every September has become a beloved ritual that I gift to myself every year. 

Now, with our annual read-throughs I get to bring others along with me. You’re welcome to join over there if you like. We’ll start reading together on September 22nd. It’ll be good to return to Middle-earth again.

A Writing Challenge *gulp*

Amidst all the simultaneous happenings in my life, I want to give myself a gentle challenge: write 500-1,000 words a day. Publish one post per week here on substack.

Why? Because I’ve gotten lax with my writing disciplines and like to put myself through mini boot camps every now and then. This is one of them. 

Things I’m doing to help me with this challenge:

• Post about it publicly to hold myself accountable. 

• Invite others to join me so I’m not doing it alone. 

• Putting down my phone and sitting down to work instead

• Reading more. Experiencing writer’s block? Pick up a book. 

• Moving more. I write better when I’m not stationary. There is a time to sit your butt in the chair and write. There is also a time to get your butt up and work out. It’s all connected. 

Why this challenge? I want to be off my phone more. Instead of reading/watching/consuming other people’s creative work. I want to contribute and cultivate my own. I can’t mindlessly scroll when I’m mindfully typing out words. 

I have a lot I want to write about. I’d like to put words to how it feels to navigate the election season in the US. Or how millennials keep being fed the lie that they can “fix” their body/faith journey/housing situation/trauma if they just try harder, do more, read this, eat that. It’s wringing us dry. Or how writing for nine years for free and taking myself seriously as a writer all that time has borne fruit I’m harvesting now. Or how it feels to shift away from writing about being a young mother raising little kids and into who I am outside of all that. 

Maybe some of it will see the light of substack. A lot of it probably won’t. I’ll still reap the benefits of re-establishing a consistent writing schedule. 

This is a challenge for me, but you’re welcome to join in. Does publishing on substack feel too intimidating? Ok. Open a fresh Google Doc, “publish” your weekly 500–1,000 word entries there. You’ve got this. 

The Grace of Warm Bread

Back to school woes. A pile of clean laundry that has multiplied like moss growing on a chair in my bedroom. A brain that tapped out hours ago but is slowly pulling itself together because I’ve kept my butt in the chair to keep writing. Soon it’ll be time for a walk outside and sourdough toast with Nutella. Not bad for a weekday. 

Have you ever had Nutella on toasted sourdough? I’m not saying it’ll solve all your problems. In fact, it very much won’t. I just know I feel a little braver about tackling a stressful day when I’ve taken a moment to grace myself with hazelnut chocolate melting on to warm bread. 

Maybe you’ve been feeling the strain of simultaneous too. The last months of the year really pile it on thick, don’t they? Maybe your brain is mush too. 

Take an hour or two to be intentional with your creative work. Find ways to gently challenge yourself. Get outside and move your body in the ways you can. And if you can’t, move your mind through a beautiful book or lovely song. 

Aren’t you so glad to live in a world with beautiful books, lovely songs and warm bread? I’m also glad to live in a world with sturdy, soft flannel jackets found at Sam’s Club. And one where my cat keeps me company when I’m pushing through writer’s block. And one where the crickets are singing in the undergrowth at 4pm. And one the sun is westering earlier so golden hour is longer. And one where I can ignore the rules of writing and grammar because I have a point to make and I wanted it to feel rhythmic and I think (I hope?) you’re the type of reader to get it. 

At the very least, you’re probably craving warm bread now. I’ll call that a success.

Go forth and grace yourself. 

1. Why read The Lord of the Rings now? Read about it by clicking here. (pssst…paid subscribers to this substack get 50% subscriptions to my Tolkien one!)