a quick peek into all the notebooks I currently use & inspiration to start your own imperfect stack of notebooks To see the video from this post go here. At the risk of you all thinking I am a bit frivolous, I decided to do a notebook stack tour. This is a quick peek into…
All posts in Intellectually Alive
Theme Learning for Your Personal Curriculum
Learning comes alive when your reading, watching, and doing connect around one idea. It turns scattered input into a meaningful journey. [ + free PDF ] The first time I intentionally added themed learning to my own personal pursuits was when we were studying Medieval European History. I was reading aloud from our text and…
How to Design Your Own Personal Curriculum
Borrow the best parts of academia and make them work for your personal growth. [ Detailed How-To + free PDF ] It was a summer evening after the kids had gone to bed. When our college students are home, my husband and I have a routine of lounging on the couches with books or scrolling…
Notes in the Margins – Annotating & Journaling
For those just getting started or returning to these habits after a long pause, this is a gentle guide for the thoughtful reader. I’ll be setting up a table at an outdoor market where I’ll sell bookish things along with signed copies of my book. The crowd will mostly be college students, and I have…
The Roots of My Hobby Obsession
I come from working-class dreamers who never stopped learning. Growing up, I watched my grandparents turn their free time into something meaningful and that shaped me more than I realized. There is a powerful thread woven through the generations before us when we learn skills from the past. At times it may seem like our…
Free Habit Tracker Printables: Sustainable, Not Stressful
🎉grab your book launch freebies . Make sure you are subscribed to get the other book launch freebies! Let’s be honest—habit tracking can feel like one more thing to fail at. But I’m reimagining it as something gentler. These free printable habit trackers are designed to work alongside the shifts I talk about in Subtle…
From Stuck to Inspired: A Hobby-Starting Framework
A simple, thoughtful process to help you brainstorm, reflect, and finally begin a hobby that feels realistic, joyful, and life-giving. . In this summer hobby series we have talked about what constraints and obstacles keeping us from hobbies we enjoy. I believe that if you struggle to add in a hobby in your busy life,…
When Hobbies Feel Out of Reach
You’re not lazy, you’re blocked. Let’s talk about constraints and obstacles keeping us from hobbies we enjoy. When I discuss hobbies with someone in person, the first reaction is often a quiet sigh, followed by a sense of guilt or regret. “Every time I try to sit down and work on something creative, I get…
How I Became an Angry Mom & the Antidote I Found
Lifelong learning in the margins & how small curiosities brought me back to life. There is an unparalleled exhaustion to understanding and then meeting the needs of babies and small children. They are compelled to demand what they need at all times of the day and night. This is a tremendous strain and physically draining,…