Chapter 9: March
Plus an important lesson on book reviews
PRE-S: I’m on vacation this week! Tall Man and I are on a road trip in Wales. It’s my first time going back and I’m SO excited to explore all new parts of the country together. So I won’t be here to reply to comments, but will be back at my computer on Monday, August 12th. I hope you have a beautiful week!
Hi friend,
For a title like “Lightening Up,” I have to be honest: this chapter actually felt pretty heavy to read—at least, for me personally. This was a heavy time in my life, and those aren’t easy to revisit. And, similar to what I said about chapter 8, this one also showed me why it stands out amongst others in this genre.
THE YEAR OF LESS isn’t just a book about not shopping or decluttering. It’s a book about how we might consume things (like shopping, alcohol, food, TV, etc.) to numb ourselves and our feelings—and I wasn’t afraid to share honest and vulnerable examples of what that has meant for me. If anything, what I can tell you now is that doing the shopping ban and then writing this book were just the beginning of understanding what my relationship with binge consuming has been. I’ve learned more since, especially with the help of some therapy. And, there’s enough included in this book to hopefully have an impact on readers it resonates with. I finished this chapter and thought: yes, this was good enough.
Still, there are some things I’d love to share more thoughts on—both for readers of the book, and for any writers here too! Because I’ve learned A LOT about what can happen after you release a book into the world. And one of the most important lessons came from a review of this chapter…