Rolling with the Birthday Punches

Sunday Missives

Mar 29

Written By Katie McGuire

Currently reading:

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno
Tune in Tomorrow by Randee Dawn
Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
In Defense of Dabbling by Karen Walrond [audiobook]

Books finished this week: 0

Library updates:

I’m not DNFing Tune in Tomorrow; I’m just . . . pausing. To be honest, I haven’t really been feeling the urge to pick it up and read it. It’s a super fun idea, but the book is over 400 pages long, and the read is, for me, somehow incredibly slow-going. So I’m going to keep it on the list for now, but also try to read a couple of shorter and/or faster-moving books while I make my way through it. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump and I just need to find something to devour to get back on track.

And maybe I’ll end up DNFing anyway. You’ll know as soon as I know!

Anyhow, my birthday was on Friday! (Please clap.) I started the document to draft this missive early on that day, and honestly, the topic has morphed since then. I was feeling a little down on myself all that day——kind of lethargic, maybe almost numb? Maybe I was tired; maybe birthdays and the expectations they come with them just kind of suck sometimes; maybe it was stress. Even when I got to the bar where I was meeting up with some friends, aiming to spend a little quiet time reading before the festivities, I sat at the counter, not really enjoying my read, and worried that I was going to be a stick in the mud all night and need to go home early.

And then my friends started to arrive. I saw so many people from so many of the different parts of my life——old jobs, friends of friends, writing retreats and workshops, a high school friend (then two)——and it just made me so thankful to know all of these incredible people. Birthdays and other parties can always be weird, throwing together a bunch of people whose only connection is you. But it just felt like everyone was happy and easy, and I felt just so fucking lucky to know all these people. It was a nice reminder of how cool the world can be, and that I have more love in my life than I sometimes remember.

At one point in the night, my friend Melissa (hi, Melissa!) asked me three birthday questions, but the one that stuck with me most was about what to bring into this new year of life. (You all know I love a good chance to reflect.) And what I landed on was just prioritizing the things that are actually important. I’ve said that so many times, here and in my private journal, over the years, and undoubtedly something always gets in the way. So it was nice to be reminded of that, too, of the importance of making time to read and write and drink a million drinks with fascinating people and laugh a lot over old memories and new stories with the constellation of lovely stars in your universe.

Closing thoughts:

Notice the stars already around you and tell them how thankful you are for them.

Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 199

(Total books added to the Moratorium Library: 422)

I only have one new book to add to the Library this week (though I did get a Bookshop.org card from Sabrina——hi, Sabrina! Thank you, Sabrina!!—that’s burning a hole in my proverbial pocket and will certainly lead to more very soon). I saw this collection advertised in an email from Two Lines Pressand had to make her mine.