45 - Maybe I Need a Time Turner
Welcome friends. Over the holidays, I’m going to take December 26 off so you won’t receive a newsletter next week. I will be back in your inbox on January 2, 2023. I wish you all a holiday season filled with peace and joy.
Photos of the Week
I finally put my tree up on December 18! Decorations probably aren’t happening this year. Thankfully it is both snow and glitter flocked, pre-lit and features some pine cone accents.
Kona and I picked up my nephew Andrew from the airport on Friday. His arrival in town for the holidays has become a bit of an unofficial start to my holiday season.
I launched the new logo for my “personal” brand. After the holiday the Newsletter will get a little bit of a makeover to reflect this new brand identity as will my website.
My friend Kristen brought her dog Hugo for a play date this week. Hugo was a regular here in my pre-Kona days. We wanted to see how the two would do together and they did very well!
Maybe I Need a Time Turner
This past week was the first week I’ve spent more than two consecutive nights at a time in my house since Thanksgiving. While I have a pretty portable life at this point, all the time away left house tasks undone, piles of mail, and appointments here in town that had to be deferred. I also launched a new course at the beginning of December and have another one going live at the beginning of January (reminder - last chance to get the Facts of Life Book Course before it launches). And, now Christmas is upon us. And a potential snow storm. Because that’s what we need during Christmas week.
This is one of those weeks/months where I actually do wish I had a Hogwarts style time turner. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban, Hermione Granger used the time turner to go back and forth in time multiple times a day so she could attend extra classes. I don’t want a time turner very often - I think the temptation not to live in the moment would be even greater than it is right now. With all of the distractions of this world, staying in the moment is hard. But it’s a key to happiness so I work hard to do it.
So, I’m trying to focus on the moments right now…when I feel the busiest…to remind me of how much good there is in this life. For instance, dad and I had a chat tonight in which we tried to figure out how old his Monroe plaid (properly spelled it would actually be Munro I believe) jacket is?
My grandmother made this jacket and tie for my Grandpa. My aunt has the matching version that my grandmother made for herself. I think she made them some time before my grandparents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary which was in 1978 so the jacket is definitely at least in its mid-40s at this point and may even be older than that. It only comes out at Christmas time.
Because the busy will fall away and it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life. It’s these relationships - these little conversations and moments - that matter the most.
Maybe I don’t need that time turner after all.
Where’s Kara?
A quick summary of where I’m going to be hanging out online and IRL over the next few weeks. Join me, and if I’m visiting near you, hit reply and let’s meet up!
In Real Life (IRL)
Nothing on the books at the moment right now except lots of time with friends and family around Indiana.
Around the Virtual World
Just a reminder - both the Quarterly Retreat and the Facts of Life Book courses make great gifts! Drop me an email (you can just hit reply here) and pay before 5 p.m. eastern December 23, 2022 and I will guarantee delivery of an e-certificate by email on Christmas morning to the email address you send me.
Quarterly Retreat - It’s still a great time to prepare for an awesome 2023 by signing up for the Quarterly Retreat All Access Pass or the Quarterly Retreat Workshop. Visit https://karamonroe.podia.com and download the workbook for free and check out all of the offerings.
Join My Course and Community - You will often find me hanging out in the course and community for my course “Facts of Life Book”. Do you need to organize your most important stuff for life’s most important moments? If so, then the Facts of Life Book course is just for you. With loads of templates, tools, and guides I’ll help you get your most important information organized. Newsletter readers - get in now for the low cost of only $25 for life!
Creative Work Hour - Every single day of the week, at 10 a.m. eastern, a group gathers online in Zoom to do a quick check in, a brief meditation, work for about 50 minutes on whatever they want to do, and then check out with one another for 5 minutes. Creative Work Hour is one of my favorite places to hang out online and I’ve been there every single day that I could be there since about March of 2022. Come as often or as little as you need to get projects done. To register for the sessions (they are free but you have to sign up to get the zoom link) and to learn more, visit https://lu.ma/CreativeWork.
AP Productivity - I’m once again joining my friend R.J. Nestor as a mentor in his exceptional course AP Productivity. We just finished a cohort. I look forward to getting back into this in the new year.
Tools, Tips, & Tricks
Looking for a good for you goal for the new year? Try book-ending your day with reading
On my best days, I book end my day with reading. I had never heard it called this until I read about it in Austin Kleon’s newsletter which led me to this episode of the Ezra Klein show. If you enjoy reading, this episode is worth a listen.
What I Published This Week
I’ve been gearing back up this week with lots of social medial posts but nothing big published publicly this week. I got a creative spark on the Facts of Life Book Course and rewrote about 60% of it - it’s an even better product for it but it’s added to my sense of busy-ness and a lack of time for writing other things.
My Digital “Garden”
As a part of the Obsidian Vault Rebuild Series that I wrote on Medium and YouTube, I began using Obsidian Publish. This add on tool for Obsidian allows you to easily publish your “in progress” notes to the web. If you want to see what I’m thinking about, this is a great place to see inside my head. It’s always available at https://publish.obsidian.md/iwannabeme
This Week’s Featured Book Note
Each week, I’m featuring one book note from a book I’m currently reading. Click the image to view this week’s note as a PDF file.
Not a note but a recommendation. I’ve been listening to Michelle Obama’s new book “The Light We Carry” am I’m enjoying it immensely. I am making a book note from it but because it’s the audio version instead of print the process is slow going. I’ll share it when I finish the book. Until then, I recommend this book with two solid thumbs up - and definitely recommend the audio version.
Diversion
For those that need this, I’m just going to leave it right here:
Our beloved dog trainer Mike rescued Noxy at Thanksgiving. Noxy was pregnant and looked ready to burst the day he found her. I have to assume she was abandoned as Mike made all the appropriate contacts while also finding a suitable place for an expecting momma to stay and whelp her pups. Noxy, aided by Mike and the friends who have fostered her, labored for 37 hours this past weekend and delivered 13 pups. While only 11 survived, momma and her 11 new darlings are doing well.
Here is Noxy with her new litter if you want a few baby puppy squeals to start your week.
Ways You Can Support Me
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