I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble
- Augustus
I’ve had the best slow living holiday of my life. A week of wandering around the old streets of Rome, constantly looking at buildings, monuments and streets - things that are so old, that it is hard to grasp exactly how old they actually are. Add the fact that Italy is heaven for those of us who are condemned to live a life without gluten - you might end up like me, crying happy tears as she eats her delicious croissant.
We had nothing planned for this holiday - besides the Coldplay concert, which turned out to be a collective therapy session for about 70 000 people (it was pure MAGIC), and it was wonderful to just be able to take it slow. Spend our days roaming the streets of Rome, exploring new areas of the city, stumbling upon more bookstores and stationary stores that I would have dreamed of and learning to navigate without google maps.
As we had done all the highlights on our last trip to Rome, we were able to just enjoy the city vibe. We found ourselves sitting at various cafes, having delicious coffee, pastries and most importantly reading.
Boy oh boy, I was so at peace!
I love Italy.
My main read for this week was SPQR by Mary Beard, a birthday present (thank you readygoread ❤), that I decided to bring with me to Rome - turns out that was the best decision ever. Reading about this ancient city and its history at the same time that I am there? The historian in me was delighted! This week that went by way too fast, will remain with me for a long time. A warm and bright memory as we move closer to winter.
Summer pebbles
Summer means I have much more time to dedicate myself to my reading and I have to say, I have been deep diving into so many Substacks over this summer that I cant write about all of them. If I am not entirely mistaken, I think I ended up with about 30 or so saved posts and I have had a hard time to pick out which ones I would like to highlight. The ones highlighted in this post touch upon various themes that have been on my mind lately and I found myself reflecting a lot on the topics they touch upon. They have remained with me for a long time, and I am delighted to share them with you today.
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Viam posted a question that I have been asking myself a lot lately and yet…I still do not have an answer for this. I just seem to repeat certain cycles and cannot seem to be able to break them. It is nice to know I am not the only one in this, and I am looking forward to part two of this post.
Calia Booths interview with Rachel Schwartzmann was such an interesting read and it gave me a closer look on slowing down in life. Something that I have been doing for the past couple of months in certain eras of my life and her talking about filtering out what is worth paying attention to really stuck with me.
“I always say that we can’t be slow 100% of the time—and the digital landscape is embedded in our real lives—so this movement/idea helps me filter out what’s worth paying attention to and when. I can’t think of anything more important, especially now.”
Sarah Fay really grabbed my attention with this post about friends and friendships and had me reflecting about where this desire and need that I have had for years to find my tribe came from. In many ways I am a little bit of both, I love spending time alone and having solo dates. I used to get so many weird looks and comments when I would go to the cinema on my own, or take myself out for a dinner date. “Alone? You are going alone?” And it always made me feel a bit weird, was there something wrong with me for wanting to just hangout with myself?
I have never lost that part of me - thankfully. However, I do recognise that sometimes I have taken it a bit too far. Spending too much time alone, is for me, something that can be a bit isolating and not always the best for my mental health. Nevertheless, I still very much do need that time alone - and this post made me realise that I am the most fun person I know. I know exactly what I want to do and need. Still working on telling myself what to do in a supportive way though.
“It’s just that my need for connection is easily satisfied—largely because I’m the most fun person I know. I always want to do exactly what I want to do. There’s no conflict, and I never have to settle. I’m reliable. It’s impossible for me to show up late because I’m always with me. I tell myself what to do but in a supportive way.”
Johanna Renoth wrote this very important and relatable piece and it put into words something I have been struggling for with a couple of months, but not been able to say. Coming from Instagram, where having a brand was very much a big deal, it has been hard to shake it off. In many ways, bookstrider, is an identity and brand that I love and want to keep - but I also want to do more than just reviews. So I have been struggling to figure out how to do this on Substack. What do I want bookstrider to be, here?
I am sometimes a reader (okay most times), sometimes a writer, sometimes just an enthusiast that has a lot she wants to say. Do I want all that under one banner, or should I try splitting it up? But all of these things are still me - the core of bookstrider.
“When I set out to write Seeing., I wanted to do something just for me and my creativity. Yet, it’s been unexpectedly challenging to divorce myself from the perceived pressures of branding myself and my work online.
Do you sense this, too, in your experience of the internet?”
I have been following Madeline Mills for a while in here and have recommended her posts a few times, because there is always something that resonates with me. This post about jealousy was a refreshing take on it, honest, vulnerable and gave perspective on how to deal with the sides of ourselves that are not always pretty, without shaming ourselves in the process of it.
Freya India had a post about how social media has changed the premisses of friendships and it made me so grateful that I had most of my adolescence without these platforms. I had not thought about how the various platforms impacted my friendships until the day I started deleting my social media. Now I am only on two and even that has marked the change in friendships and who I am in touch with today. I used to excuse them, because after all I was the one who left social media and it was not longer “easy” to reach me.
However, it is still easy to reach me - its just that you do not see my stories or highlights anymore. Out of sight and out of mind, that is what social media did to our friendships and connections, we became followers instead of actual friends in a lot of cases.
“But when friends contact me now, they contact me because they care—not because my Instagram Stories relentlessly remind them I exist. They remember my birthday not because Facebook nudged them but because they never forgot the date.
So I know who is worth keeping. I know who is real, and rare.”
Jenny Lawsons post found me exactly when I needed it - I was screaming in the dark and passing time by distracting myself with art; painting and drawing. My negative spirals can be overwhelming sometimes, and even as I am dealing with them it is comforting to know that there are more of us out there.
“Sometimes I forget that this is what art is too…not always pretty or productive or inviting. It’s sometimes ugly and scary and embarrassing. It’s real and uncomfortable.”
If you made it this far, thank you! This month brought me so many great reads, with reflections and new perspectives that I needed. There are still so many more posts that I would like to recommend so in no particular order, if you need more posts to read, these are the rest of my summer pebbles:
That is it for now! I hope you are having a wonderful summer and reading something great that sticks with you for a while.
Until next time,
happy reading! ✨
Beautiful pictures! Gosh I’m jealous of the Coldplay concert!!