When I heard my husband was scrubbing toilets on his meditation retreats, I definitely gave him—and the three bathrooms in our house—a giant side eye 👀
Yet I doubt we are the first couple who has squabbled over the division of house chores. For years, we solved the problem with a twice-a-month house cleaner, who recently paired down her business to accommodate her husband’s health issues. Not having her around has made me reflect on how little I know about dusting—and honestly, I’m a little embarrassed about it.
So this spring, I’m reframing cleaning as part of my mindfulness practice instead of a neurotic activity I take on before visitors arrive. My husband is convinced the FLY Zone method is the way to success, whereas I tend to clean in sixty minute bursts. And don’t get me started on my daughter’s tendency to hold onto every little scrap of paper she has ever doodled on—at some point I threatened to pitch her birthday presents in the trash if she didn’t cut it out. (As you can tell, I’m not doing so well on the emotional reactivity part of the process.)
What methods and systems have you implemented to keep your house tidy without losing your sanity? Tell me below 👇🏼
And in the spirit of (Internet) housekeeping, welcome to the first link roundup on
. It’s a new format I’m testing out, meaning you’ll get shorter weekly-ish emails from me vs. longer twice-a-month updates. My family members and closest friends don’t even get weekly texts, so this is uncharted territory. Wish me luck? 🤞Previously on The Write-Life Balance ⏮️
Last month, I cried over my daughter’s forthcoming transition into kindergarten, and interviewed the strength coach who finally broke through my psychological boundaries about exercise and fitness.
Links for April 🔗
📚 I usually check out fiction books on Kindle via the Libby app, but impulse bought the latest Kennedy Ryan paperback during a recent trip to the bookstore. Zero regrets!
🧠 Working my way through this plotting book. I could have sworn Martha Alderson was writing directly to me when she pointed out that right-brain writers typically struggle with structure and managing their inner self critic 🙈
💭 Steven Pressfield’s recent Writing Wednesday on why a practice is not a means to an end prompted me to reflect on my motivation for laboring over my book—especially when he asks:
Can we aspire without ego? Can we work like hell and let the work be its own reward? Can we detach our emotions from the outcome of our enterprise … and still pursue that enterprise with all our heart?
❄️ Every parent I’ve encountered agrees that Frozen 2 is the far more interesting movie of the franchise—do you agree or disagree?
🛍 Growing weary of cheap ill-fitting sweaters, so I splurged for this Alex Mill pullover in cosmic blue—fingers crossed it doesn’t pill immediately in the washing machine.
Recipe Corner: Pink Dragonfruit Smoothie
After paying one too many times for the version at Nectar, I finally hacked the recipe at home. The proportions are for the portable blender I recently purchased—definitely double the recipe if you’re using a full-sized blender.
Ingredients
1/4 cup frozen pink dragonfruit cubes
1/2 medium ripe banana
1/4 cup canned pineapple chunks
1/2 cup coconut water (I like the C2O brand)
1 teaspoon flax seed
1/4 cup frozen mango or strawberries (optional)
Directions
Add all ingredients to the jar and blend until smooth.
So, what do you think of the new format—👍 or 👎? Tell me in the comments below.
Happy April,
Sophia :)
Thanks for sharing. Interested to see how the shorter weekly emails pan out vs longer monthly ones! :)
Good luck on the new format! And that smoothie looks absolutely divine. 🤤
When I figure out how to keep a house clean while not squabbling about the division of labor involved, I’ll let you know…but don’t hold your breath. My win this weekend was learning how to use the electric lawn mower my brother lent me (I used to use a push mower). Makes me realize how much upgrading the tools we use improves the experience of the chore.
Same thing happened when I got a better vacuum—turns out I don’t hate vacuuming, I just hated my useless old vacuum 😂