Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit

I gravitate to reads about walking. Especially those that extrapolate the connection between mindful reflection and walking. Hence today’s review of What I’ve Just Finished Reading.

A History of Walking, by Rebecca Solnit
Wanderlust: A History of Walking, by Rebecca Solnit

Background to why I read this book: Walking and reflection sustain me through my angst and anxiety. My current theory:

Walking works to the same pace as reflection, thus the former ekes out the latter.

So much in life works too fast for discerning reflection. Most of what we do frazzles us. Walking brings us back to a dignified, even, expansive space.

Hand-writing (journal writing) does the same.

US-based writer Rebecca Solnit touches on these themes in her dense and often feminist treatise on the purposeful stroll. Nicely, I read it during my clinic stay in India, which prescribed no movement apart from a little gentle walking. I found the book in the clinic “library”. Of course I did. It was exactly what I needed to read. Life works like that.

The gist you need to know about: Wanderlust is a series of essays that esoterically explores random

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A One-Pot Wonder Skillet Cookie recipe!

It is no secret that the new IQS One-Pot Wonders Cookbook is possibly my favourite cookbook yet. It’s all about making delicious meals simple, affordable and sustainable. To give you a little glance at what’s inside, I thought I’d share one of my favourite dessert recipes from the book: The Choc Chip Skillet Cookie.

Choc Chip Skillet Cookie
Choc Chip Skillet Cookie from the IQS One-Pot Wonders Cookbook

This giant cookie is the perfect way to serve up dessert at your next dinner party. Place it in the middle of the table, serve it with a side of cream and watch the happy faces. Just like all the other recipes in the book, the Choc Chip Skillet Cookie is prepared using only one single dish. Less time spent preparing and washing up, more time talking to your mates!

What else can you find in the book? 

  • A stack of recipes, all prepared in one single dish.
  • Most meals are under $5, some even under $3 per serve.
  • There’s a whole section on Sunday Cookups, geared towards creating waste-free dinners and delicious leftovers for the week.

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Louis C.K.’s decision-making rule

Making decisions is a theme on this site. It’s a theme in my life as I grapple with the confidence, laissez faire-ness, certainty and surrender inherent in good decision-making.

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

Today I share brilliant US comedian Louis C.K.’s approach. He, too, grapples with the descent into despair that decision-making can induce. He’s developed a 70 Per Cent rule:

“These situations where I can’t make a choice because I’m too busy trying to envision the perfect one—that false perfectionism traps you in this painful ambivalence: If I do this, then that other thing I could have done becomes attractive. But if I go and choose the other one, the same thing happens again. It’s part of our consumer culture. People do this trying to get a DVD player or a service provider, but it also bleeds into big decisions.

“So my rule is that if you have someone or something that gets 70 per cent approval, you just do it. ‘Cause

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