This was the question I had at the beginning of the year. Both in the practical and the existential/spiritual sense, I guess. But in January it was mostly the practicalities on my mind. Time still seems in short supply around here, because although there are no small children at home any more and we are all doing pretty well health-wise, my husband and I still do have five kids including three (soon to be four!!) teenagers who need us, full time jobs, other commitments etc etc.

All good and wonderful and welcome and I wouldn’t wish any of it away, but there’s just a lot of stuff to keep at least somewhat on top of.

I picked up two books in January hoping they’d help me come to grips with how to get stuck into it all again for another year. They are Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 ways to calm the chaos and make time for what matters by time management expert Laura Vanderkam and Eternity in the midst of time by Discalced Carmelite priest Wilfred Stinson.

I wrote about them together and you can find that review over at Quiros, the new group blog about religion, politics and the arts.

Gotta say, I’m very happy at how cool my article looks over there! Do check out the rest of the posts on the site, it’s a fascinating and eclectic mix of reviews and reflections by some of the smartest and nicest people I know.

PS Just a note about the photo of the brilliantly-coloured maple tree alongside this post—I took it in early June while on a walk with Naomi before she went on a big European adventure that will end at World Youth Day in Lisbon next week. I can’t believe she will be back again so soon and we’ll be taking our next lunchtime walk in late winter that feels like early spring!