Media That Inspired Me This Year, Habits to Leave Behind, and a Word for 2021

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 2020 may have been one for the dumper, but there were some really great podcasts, books, and blogs that shaped me this year. I thought I would share some of them.  

BOOKS:

This was not my best reading year. But these were my top reads of 2020:

Miracle and Other Reasonable Things, by Sarah Bessey.  This is my number one pick of the year.  It was balm for my soul (as the pandemic unfolded during an election year) while I had an unraveling and rebuilding of my faith and views. Sarah Bessey knows a thing or two about wrestling and holding tight to Jesus even as our understanding of Him shifts.  

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb.  A memoir about a therapist who finds herself in therapy.  It was sweet, tender, engaging. 

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix.  80's housewives in Charleston SC have a fabulous trashy book club, and then a vampire comes to town.  Think Steel Magnolias meets Stephen King.  I loved it.  There was a lot of misogyny displayed by the husbands, which felt very accurate to me for the time period.  It also showcased the racial and economic injustices of the time period as well, but no comment was made on them and I appreciated the author letting it sit out there for the reader to contend with.  And there was violence and gore and quirky characters.  It was fantastic for me. 


PODCASTS:

In no particular order...

The Good List, with Tsh Oxenreider This podcast will inspire you to look for the good and beautiful in the world, and cultivating practices for living a sacred everyday kind of life.  

10 Things to Tell You by Laura Tremaine.  Laura has incredible book recommendations. She also shares really deep prompts for self-reflection.  She has episodes on the mind-body connection, the power of intuition, anxiety, and so much more.  I loved her series on racial biases and her episode on sitting in stillness was one of my favorites of the year.  

The Minimalists.  Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus.  I have followed these guys for years and I am a superfan.  I don't even care if you think I'm weird.  Their podcast has definitely shaped my thinking and how I live life, trying to "love people and use things, because the opposite never works."  I love their banter and they have a crazy eclectic mix of guests and ideas.  

Sorta Awesome.  Meg Tietz.  I am an OG Awesome.  This is just a bright space in the Podcast sphere and their Facebook group is truly a safe haven.  They really talk about all things awesome and bringing out the awesome in yourself.  LOVE. 

Reply All.  PJ Vogt, Alex Goldman.  This is a podcast about the internet.  But it is so much more. PJ and Alex have crazy chemistry and hearing them laughing is one of my favorite things.  

For The Love with Jen Hatmaker.  The whole series on faith leaders.  And specifically episode from June 26, 2020, with her daughter Sydney on Being Gay and Loved.  This was the listen of the year for me and it completely changed my mind.  Just like that.  


BLOGS:

Shutterbean, Tracy Benjamin. I have loved Tracy Benjamin's website for a long time. It is totally unique.  Photography, food, art.  Her Instagram is really lovely too.  

Good News Network. Only good and inspiring stories to be found here.  


Hard NOS OF 2020:

The News: Basically all of it, except the one listed above. 

Facebook: The dumpster fire of the internet.


HABITS TO LEAVE BEHIND:

I wonder if we could think about bad habits we would like to leave behind instead of new years resolutions.  Do you have any? 

Facebook and the news were two of mine.  Doomscrolling as well.  I think I want to try and share more of myself and the ways God has changed me this year.  I'm a Peacemaker by nature, and this past year was so hard.  I realized I was stuffing down big important things to make others comfortable.  Until that Peacemaking left me feeling no peace inside.


A WORD FOR 2021: STAND

Do you pick a word for the year? Mine for 2020 was Behold, and here's a post about it. This year my word came to me in such a strong way of knowing.  I had just sat and prayed, asking if He had a word for me that I would know it was from Him and not my own head.  Less than 5 minutes later, Jay and I turned on The Stand to watch the first episode of the new miniseries on CBS.  We were stoked for this series, we love Stephen King! It opened with the narrator gave a creepy prophetic intro to the show, and the intro closed with "This is where you will make your Stand. For that is God's will for you."  And I got chills and knew that 100%, like it or not, that was my word for 2021.  


Won't you Stand with me and show up for 2021? Arms open, hearts full of love.








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