I am ready for a chat this week. A happier chat than in other weeks. *snort laugh*

I’ve been a bit of a downer lately. Eek.

So today I have made myself a cup of hot cocoa. It’s not super cold today (or super hot) but I think cocoa can work any time when you are not a coffee drinker.

Outside my window, the sun is shining. The bell at the Catholic Church on the hill across from the house is chiming because it is noon.

In the yard, my roses and my peonies are blooming, though some of them looked a little sickly, are also blooming.

I’m planning to take Little Miss to the library in a bit and then spend the day working on my book with a live writing sprint with an author on YouTube.

The weather this week was rainy and wet part of the time and then beautiful and sunny. It was not too warm, not too cold. In other words, it was lovely for at least the days it didn’t rain.

We didn’t do much this week outside the house other than take Little Miss to gymnastics, explore the garden, and visit my parents. It was just a pretty relaxed week and we needed that.

Yesterday was super relaxed. I mostly wrote, designed journals (which are on sale for – ha. Kidding. I’m so tired of advertising my stuff. I’m going to take a break from that on my blog.), read a book, and watched Forgotten Way Farm on YouTube.

I really enjoy Forgotten Farms because she talks about simple, everyday things. She shares about what she is cooking, thrift shopping, what she’s reading, and simple living. Did I mention enough that she shares about the simple life? Have I used the word “simple” enough? You understand her channel is about simplicity now, right?

Okay. Moving on.

This morning I was thinking a lot about how I explain myself too much in life. I way overexplain why I am doing something because I think that the other person is thinking something negative about me. I go into defense mode way too often.

So, I kicked out this little paragraph to put on Instagram this weekend or later in the week. I’d really like to take an entire weekend off social media so it will probably be next week.

“You don’t have to explain to anyone why you want time to write. You don’t have to explain to anyone why you are writing what you are writing. You don’t have to explain to anyone why you are self-publishing. If it is making you happy and you find joy in it, or it is making you extra money that your family needs right now then those may be your reasons, but you don’t owe anyone an explanation for those reasons. Family, friends or strangers can think you are silly or ridiculous or delusional and they may even tell you that you are all those things, but you still do not owe them anything – not even a defensive response.

Tune it all out and write on, my friends!”

So today I say the same to you – tune it all out and do whatever you want to do (without hurting others or your soul, of course) and don’t explain yourself to other people as much as possible. I mean, sometimes you have to explain a little but, well, you get my drift.

In closing (I know! This post is so short today!) I am leaving you some photographs I took this week of our flowers as they started to bloom. There are more out there now, and I’ll probably take some more photographs of them for tomorrow’s Sunday Bookends post. Really, though, how many flower photos can one person have? They all sort of look the same, right? But, it makes me happy, so I don’t have to explain. Booyah!