TSS: Returning Home...

I have finally found my reading groove!

It was in hibernation for the last five years while I struggled to find time to fit other life priorities. It wasn't until I retired last May that I realized the extent of stress in my life.  In fact, I am certain if there was an image to represent "burn out" in the dictionary, my mugshot would be front and center.

While these past nine months have been a welcome relief, for the first time in my life I seem to have difficulty focusing. It is as though the day-to-day work schedule helped to keep me in line:  I knew what I needed to accomplish and I did it.  Now that I have freedom, I am not quite sure which activity to pursue first.

This lack of focus - inability to see a project to completion - has been frustrating.  And yet, I think it is part of the necessary transition from a human doing to a human being.  And over the past couple of weeks, I have learned to accept this process.

To that end, I have started to read again.  To read for fun, not for educational purposes.  I now read without pencil in hand; I no longer have to underline key passages and write insights in the margin.  I simply read to enjoy.  And it has been DELIGHTFUL (my word for 2015).

Books that I have enjoyed over the past two weeks include:

• 11/22/63 by Stephen King
• The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone
• Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Maddix
• The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
• Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
• Rescue on the Oregon Trail by Kate Messner
• The Shadows by Jacqueline West
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
• The Phantom of the Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning

Over the next few days I will write short book reviews of these 10+ novels I have read.  I am SO looking forward to returning to the book blog community - I have missed you all!

I will also use this blog to discuss my writing endeavors.  I am still working on First Impressionism, a Middle Grade historical fiction novel set in Paris circa 1880.  But I am also working on Milestone Memoir, an idea I have of marrying one photograph from my past with a personal essay to leave a life legacy for my descendants.  There may be other fiction and non-fiction works thrown in as well.

Additionally, the retired life is affording me the opportunity to travel - my heart's desire since I was in second grade.  I will certainly document the trips I take, as well as share a few photographs of the special places I have visited.

And lastly, the Nook is also a place of creativity.  I enjoy paper crafts of all kinds including rubber stamp greeting cards and family scrapbooks.  I am sure to share a few of these artistic endeavors with you.

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I left this blog 2.5 years ago because I felt like a fraud.  I began My Cozy Book Nook to be a part of the book blogging community and yet over time, few of my posts discussed literature.  While many of you encouraged me to stay, I could not live with the deceit.

But recently I have come to realize that my Nook at home is more than a place to read.  As the blog  tagline now states, it is a place where I retreat not only to read, but also to write, meditate, and create.  If the physical space can allow for that kind of diversity, I think the blog can too.

I feel as though I am the prodigal daughter, but I am now home.  And it feels good.