Finally, with my first love. Slowly getting back to reading. This is the book I had postponed for years. I feel I am now ready for it!! Bought this @ #InfyBangalore Looking back to that day now. #Thefountainhead #lovereading #booklover #finallymakingtime #aynrand #centennialedition

A post shared by Jayanthy G (@jayanthygovindarajan) on Sep 2, 2017 at 10:14am PDT

With such a great reading record in the last two years, I wondered if there is going to be anything different this year. I managed to convince myself that I will continue reading posts from bloggers I regularly follow. It is a good idea, right? I must simplify with what I am able to do, no?

2017 December was a joyous month in a way. My husband’s friend was coming back from the UK. They have this common tradition in their group. If there are good deals, they buy stuff for their friends. My husband already knew how much I debated about buying a Kindle. He was sure that I would debate for a few more months before buying it. So, he asked his friend to bring one for me. Okay, I was really bothered if I would enjoy reading from it. A very common doubt that arises in all book readers who think about buying it. 

January arrived. My husband was more excited than me. I guess he finally realized he found a way to keep my mouth shut. ? I was eager, excited and also nervous. I was lucky to get inputs from friends who suggested I invest in a Kindle Paperwhite. Thanks to Soumya and Aparna who said “Go for it without thinking one more time. You will not regret.” I did just that. 



One fine day, my husband came earlier than usual. He gave me the box and asked me to open it. He was excited to open the package just as I was. Only that, I did not feel like opening it. It was a compact package that I was happy just seeing it. I wasn’t even planning on opening it then. I just looked at it in amazement. I wasn’t expecting it to be like a typical notebook. Didn’t I tell you, once I ordered, I didn’t even look at its specifications to reconfirm myself. I held the lightweight package and looked at it front to back, back to front. He asked me to Please do the honors! 

I tore the seal and opened the box. He was continuously sharing his commentary. I figured he is excited too though he is totally into bike books and automobiles and that has nothing to do with my reading. Finally, I unpacked it and saw this beauty. All my doubts vanished. He did the physical examination for me and worried it was lighter than my phone and I must order a cover immediately. 

We browsed it together for sometime and shared all that we had in mind about it. 

Q1: Can we read other language books in this?
A1: Oh yes! I am waiting to read Ponniyin Selvan. 

Q2: Do you think it will not hurt your eyes during the night?
A2: I am hoping so. I will read tonight and let you know tomorrow.

A2 (continued): Did you even guess I read from it? It did not hurt my eyes and I am totally in love with this.

Q3: How many books can you download? Does it have internet connectivity?
A3: The capacity is 4 GB. Most big PDF’s come in MB’s only. So I guess around 50 to 100 would be good. Yes. We can download books from Amazon store through WiFi.

Q4: How about charging it? 
A5: It is given it will stand for weeks with a half an hour reading time everyday with lighting at 10. Let us give it a try. 

For the past one week, I have read around 4 books and the charge is just half way down. I am glad that I don’t have to charge it everyday.

Q5: Do you borrow books or buy books from Amazon?
A5: According to the Kindle Unlimited, we can borrow 10 books per month. I am not sure if all books are available or is it applicable only on selected books. For the first month it is free and I am allowed to download only selected books. There are schemes and can select accordingly. We can even buy e-books and there are deals too.

Q6: It is black and white. What about Color photos? Can it be viewed in ours?
A6: Nope. Not in ours. I have seen it in a fellow blogger friend’s (Shilpa‘s) Instagram photos. It is called Kindle Fire.

Q7: I really hope you have it for a long time!
A7: Haha! Trust me on this! I will treasure this! *hearts*

I did not write any Instagram posts or blog posts too for a whole week. I was completely engrossed in reading. It was like breathing fresh air again. Slowly, those tight muscles are relaxing itself. I have not completed any of my reading challenges until now. So, this year, I set my goal at 30 books. Most random reads for the love of reading and some good reads to make it all worth it. I am sure it will be a mixed bag of reading this year.

At times when I wake up early or sleep late, I spend my time on Kindle instead of my phone. It has been a week since I had a conversation with friends. I just responded to the texts I got. I am glad that my phone time has significantly reduced because of my new companion. I talk now instead of the lengthy text chats. I like it. To the point and easy. 

As part of the process of simplify, I feel my days are spent better at reading. Surprisingly, I haven’t worried much about missing updates from Instagram. I know I will visit and respond to my friends when I view it. The best part is my mouth is zipped and it has helped me reduce many unnecessary conversations. Thanks Kindle.

Image source: Google

I am still surprised how this year started. I slept earlier than usual on the New Year’s Eve. Usually I stay up until midnight or much late into the night, wish everyone, visit the Ganesha temple near home and then sleep. I would wake up around 9 or 10 in the morning. However, this year, I was tired by 10.30 pm. I had traveled from Mom’s place to my MIL’s to celebrate here with all. I bid good night by 10 pm and before I knew it we were fast asleep. 

You wondering what’s the word here?
That was how my New Year started. Early to bed, good sleep and a happy morning.
But, let’s see what my word is. Read ok.

I liked the idea of working with a word a whole year after reading a few bloggers. My New Year resolutions have never crossed the mid of January until now. I have even debated about Why Bother About New Year Resolutions when we can live life as it happens each day. Sometimes, many times, I have had days where I did not know what to do, but sit and browse all videos and related videos whole day. You know that never solved my dull days, it just made it more comfortable for me to sulk. When we don’t know what to do, imagine what I will watch? Friends, back to back and any series to keep me forget everything. I figured out I do that too much all of a sudden and wondered will I ever accept my fears and change.

That’s when the idea of a Word for a whole year looked convincing. My 365 days would be focused on one single word. I am not a consistent person and I am glad to accept it in my recent posts. I get bored very quickly. I understood that’s why my resolutions failed. I had to repeat the same thing all over and I never managed to entertain myself in the process. After reading posts, I sat down and thought about my word. There were few good and comforting words that popped immediately. I loved the comfort it gave me, but I wasn’t looking for just comfort, but change. So, I took a little more time to decide my word. And it’s here.

My Word Of The Year is SIMPLIFY.

Word Of The Year – 2018

WHY THIS WORD?

My room is my motivation for change. My husband and I live in a 10 x 10 room. We live with my in-laws. They had agreed to shift into this room and give us the master bedroom. We denied. We felt this room was cozy and cute for us. We had a nice time watching movies and chilling in our room. We had an issue with the bed in our room. I wasn’t convinced about the bed and suggested it be removed. I was pregnant and I was told, I will need the bed very much. I wasn’t convinced that time either, but left it at that. Now, with the baby, I feel my room is the smallest and over-crowded. It lead to some arguments which brought no change. I started feeling uncomfortable and suffocating and was worried if the baby will also start feeling the same, if this continues.

My feelings were chaotic and so was my room. When Hubby came from office, he was annoyed at how the room looked. Simply put, it was a mess. Even I never felt I wanted to sleep there, I didn’t take the baby inside. He is a OCD guy and that looked like hell on earth. ?? I politely suggested we remove the bed. He agreed. When we removed it, he couldn’t believe the space we got. We planned on a keeping it simple, but it never happened. This was the ideal time. I am glad about the change. Agreeing to chaos brings change.

When I decided this as my WOTY, I was happy and I could see how aligned it is to my life. Bringing back the coziness of the room with some rearrangements which we love is one of the basic things for a daily living. I have given away most of the things from my room and I have a shelf in my cupboard empty.

WHAT’S IN THIS WORD FOR ME THIS YEAR?

MY THOUGHTS:

When it comes to my thoughts, I definitely think too much. I don’t like too much emotional baggage. I cry when I feel like it and complaint when I feel like it too. That’s one of the reasons I never took my complaining seriously. I felt it had value when I did, but over the years, it has become a habit. I knew it had to end somewhere. I argue when I am supposed to be silent and let it go. I couldn’t really figure out the difference between talking and arguing. I need to SILENCE THE MIND. 

DE-CLUTTERING

I don’t buy a lot. Then you think why I think of it. I will tell you my problem. I am gifted/given many things that I don’t need. Out of sheer respect, I keep them. That’s the main reason for my shelves getting cluttered quick. I have almost 10 new purses and I hardly use three of it. Tell me what I must do with the rest? I am still thinking and I guess I will post about these too in the upcoming posts.  GIVEAWAY is the best idea. To people who really need one of them. It isn’t just about a purse.  It is about getting back to basics.

ITS ALL IN THE MIND

My days start as early as 8 or 9 in the morning. Okay, don’t quit reading, early birds. I know what you are thinking! I realized 1/4th of my day is already gone and I couldn’t really accomplish what I want to do in a day. Everything was delayed. Slowly, but steadily, I will join THE 6 AM CLUB this year. I love what I can accomplish when I wake up early. I feel it is also the best time to write down my posts.

MY BODY DEFINES MY WELL-BEING:

Now that I wake early, the silence of the house is appealing. My little one has her dad lying down like a rock next to her and that helps me put on my earphones and listen to some RELAXING MUSIC while I do MY BREATHING AND STRETCHING to prepare myself for the day ahead. I feel so much better with these basic routine for a start.

MAKE TIME FOR ART

There are a few things I love to do, Doodling and Cooking. I hardly make time for them, I have changed my social media schedule because this year, I am all in the “DOING“.  I love the time I spend on Instagram, but I am planning scheduling time for it too.

CLEAN 365

I have this project for my home and self improvement. I clear out one thing a day and 365 things go out of my house this year. Updates will come by in posts.

LISTEN and SILENT

The two keywords that will make me a better person this year. I know there are many voices in my head. I am also used to certain conversations and people in my life even before they talk, I know what they are going to talk about again. I choose to LISTEN to new ideas and remain TRAIN MY MIND to say NO when needed. I am working on politely denying being the dump bin to a few who carry too much emotional baggage.

I would love to know yours!