I forgot to share this paperweight I found in Paris – it’s from the Musée d’Orsay. Monet and waterlilies. I love it.

On the past two more mornings, I haven’t turned on my phone to check email or scroll through Instagram, but have, instead, sipped coffee while reading a novel. Now, this isn’t  breaking news and it may indeed be what many of you do every morning. As a matter of fact, pre-cell phones, that’s exactly what I did every morning. I made coffee, sat down in my chair, and read for a few hours.

This year I went through a period of being unable to concentrate long enough to read any fiction. I read some non-fiction, but very little fiction, which has always been my first love. I found it alarming, though I’ve been through it before. I’m pretty sure it was the result of a couple of things: the ongoing stress I have felt since the election which has made me unable to concentrate for long on anything and the amount of time that I spent on the computer and phone checking twitter and the news and then trying to distract myself with pretty pictures on Instagram.

Fortunately, I got through the worst of that period and came out on the other side and now I’m reading fiction again. I read a big chunk of my current book yesterday afternoon, as well.

But I noticed a couple of things while on our trip. I felt much less eye strain because I wasn’t constantly looking at a backlit screen. And I was much happier when I wasn’t concentrating on either of those devices. (Not to mention the fact that I was much, much happier when I wasn’t concentrating on the news.)

I’m going to make some changes. I’m not going to leave my laptop on all day. I’ll write the blog post, check emails and sign off. Later in the day, I’ll sign on again to respond to comments. I’m also going to try to limit the time I spend on IG. Once in the morning, maybe a quick post or two during the day. The rest of the time? Puttering around the house, doing chores, listening to music, going somewhere that’s visually stimulating, and reading.

Reading has always been of the utmost importance to me. So I must ensure that I allow time for that. My current reading selection is Michael Connelly’s latest. He’s such an excellent writer that I have had no trouble losing myself in the story and that helps.

I love Instagram because I love the photos people share and I’m very visual. But I also don’t want to be one of those people who constantly checks her phone. Life’s too short.

A couple of questions: Have you struggled with limiting screen time? Since I publish a blog post daily and also post on IG, screen time can be problematic. Have you struggled with reading this year? And – finally – what are you reading right now?

That’s a lot of questions, I know, but I think it might be helpful for us to have a dialogue about these things.

Happy Sunday.