Breakfast Chats: A Quieter Home + My Big New Year Sale
Wrapping up this season of friends (not the show, hah)
“Breakfast Chats” is a lighter series, where I share short musings and conversational tidbits about life things. It’s a regular, monthly feature that I’ve made open for access to all subscribers, both free and paid.
Our house had been pretty packed all of last month, we had so much going on with our friends coming over. The buzz of warm conversation, laughter over the most random jokes, music, the sounds of food cooking, the kettle running for the 100th time in a day.
Now after weeks of all that action, we’re finally back to a quieter home and I’m sitting here on my couch with a hot cup of chai next to me writing this month’s Breakfast Chats. Let’s get started?
1. New Year, New Beginnings
I think it’s that time of the year when we all collectively start saying things like, “I can’t believe the year has almost ended”, “Where did the time go?”
I personally love new beginnings; I’m that person, by the way, who loves Mondays, so the idea of a new year always gets me so inspired and motivated about life. It’s such a reset for everything.
I do something every year, I do a simple exercise to figure out what I want my life to look like over the next 12 months. Just a few, simple things, that I then start working towards even before January hits. It’s bettered my life in a lot of ways, made me feel like I have a grip on my time & days vs just falling through them.
So, I’m going to spend some time this month to clear out some of my mental clutter - you invariably collect a lot of it over a year - and just make space for starting fresh. If it feels substantial, I’ll see if I can write about it in the next issue? But let’s keep it open, let’s see.
2. Holidaying At Home
Nabeel will be off for two weeks from work at the end of the year and so I’ll be also taking time off with him. We don’t have plans to travel anywhere but I’m thinking to have a mini vacation of sorts, at home?
Lots of rest, some time for our hobbies, music, movies, maybe go on drives, maybe a short road trip, try some new food, things like that.
I talked about something similar last month too, but this time I get to do this with him and for a full two weeks.
I’ll say this again, holidaying at home can be quite underrated and I’m just very excited about ending the year in a way where the both of us have had the chance to put down a lot of our mental baggage and can start on things fresh.
3. The Joy of Routines
After a very busy couple of months - you guys know, we’ve talked about it - my life is finally back to its usual pace and I’m enjoying doing my routine things so much. Having time to make meals, sleeping on time, it’s these simple luxuries. There’s a stack of books on my nightstand that’s been patiently waiting for me to crack into, and I can’t wait to pick up a new book and get back to my bedtime reading.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, because I think it’s one of the more common misconceptions around intentional living: Please never confuse having a slow mindset, and holding an ambition for work or dealing with a busy personal life, as concepts that are perpendicular to one another. Our lives will glide through busy and non-busy periods regularly, and some days/weeks will be beyond our capacity, but what intentionality does is that it always protects from turning a busy phase into an accepted lifestyle for you.
4. New Year Sale
I really want to thank you guys for making A Slow Afternoon what it is. It’s still very hard to make people believe in reading or buying from an online writer, so I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you being here.
I decided to create a special New Year Sale as a thank you for you guys and so until December 8th, 2024, you can get almost 20% off on an annual subscription to A Slow Afternoon.
This is the biggest discount I’ve ever offered, and it will run through this whole weekend. It’s now even less than a price of a coffee a month so I hope I’ll see some more of you here :)
5. Weekend Plans
I’ve socialized enough for some weeks now, I’m good for a while. So, this weekend is going to be all about being at home, afternoon naps, reading, some time with my plants. I might step out for some volunteer work on Saturday but other than that I’m looking forward to staying in and to just be.
I think that’s it. I hope you have a good weekend. I will see you back here in two weeks :)
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Music Credit: The music in my voiceover background is ‘Milky’ by Ninn Tendo.