I get much less response from these posts than others, and I know that very few of you are actually clicking on the links, but…   I want to communicate something, and after a month of moving from house to house (to house to house to house to house to house), my heart is exhausted.  I haven’t had much time for reflection, and I have had so many heart-to-hearts that I have nothing to say that would be worth listening to.  (It has really been a rich, wonderful time.)

Plus, I like writing these posts, so here we go:

I am really enjoying U2’s Songs of Experience.  (And technology/Spotify are so amazing.)  I usually have a quick response to music when I first hear it, whether I like it or not.  For some reason, each time I have heard a new U2 album, I’ve thought, “Oh well, I guess this album just isn’t that good.”  But each time, after several listens, it grows on me until I really love it.   So after initially thinking it was no good, (and then reading this Rolling Stone interview), I gave it a few listens anyway.   Some of my favourite lyrics today are “I know the world is dumb but you don’t have to be,” and “Oh Jesus if I’m still your friend / What the hell.”

Mike & I laughed and laughed at this video, “How to Care for your Introvert.”  Very educational.

I received some thought-provoking books for Advent & Christmas.  I devoured Gabor Maté’s book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction.  I really appreciate the way his writing combines his own stories and insights with scientific studies.  It was surprising to me to see many of the same ideas and studies I have been reading about over the last few years in parenting books.  (Obviously from a slightly different angle.)

I’m working on another book by the same author, called When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress.  I already believe most of what he is saying in this book, but it has been good to read more about scientific studies, and to hear a doctor’s angle.

There is a blog written about missions by a group of people who are or have been involved in missions. I’ve spent the morning reading some posts, and have laughed and cried.  I don’t know if this article about clickbait headlines for expats is funny for people who aren’t living overseas, but it will give you a taste for how humour can help one cope with some of these things.  And this article about Fundamental Sadness and Deeper Magic seemed to be speaking directly about the emotional journey Mike and I are on.