Close the Window to Open the Door
FROM MY READING CORNER | 1/16/26
The ability to stop doing something that is no longer serving you is a hard lesson in growth. I listened to a Mel Robbins podcast episode not too long ago that talked about reviewing your year and the benefits that can come from looking back in order to move forward in the right direction. While action is better than standing still, sometimes a repeated action can spread us too thin and get us further from our overall goals, no matter what those might be. James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits (read the book if you haven’t yet), says that narrowing our focus can help us achieve more. Instead of saying yes to everything, be really specific about what we spend our attention and focus on.
I have a quote by him hanging by the garage door that I read every day. It says, “What you trade your attention for is what your life becomes.” You can take all of these things and apply them to your life in however it might help you. For me, it brought me clarity in another area. For any of you who might not know, I have co-hosted the Dittos in the Back podcast for the past 2.5 years with one of my close friends. We started it as a passion project that could get conversations started between more women about different topics. It was also a way for us to hang out and chat once a week. When we started recording, I was still living in Kansas City, and she wasn’t married with a family. The distance made recording more difficult, but our available time slimmed as well.
Our friendship grew, but unfortunately, our listenership stayed pretty consistent. After recording and sharing 100 episodes, a feat I am extremely proud of, we have decided to shut it down and move on to other things. The part that is difficult about “quitting” something is that you feel like you are failing in a way. The thing we have to remind ourselves when this happens is that it isn’t a failure in the negative sense. With every failure comes lessons learned for your future self. Your experiences and circumstances evolve and change over time. What you decide to do with your time should evolve and change as well. This is growth. And growth helps us become the future version of ourselves we can be proud of.
I wanted to share this with you because at a time of the year when everyone is setting goals, it’s important to remember that saying goodbye to one thing can mean saying hello to something even better.
I hope you are having a wonderful start to 2026. Have a great weekend, and as always, happy reading.
-Katie Marie
THE KIDS’ CORNER |
What We Are Reading
Tuck’s Bookshelf: Tucker received more Fly Guy books for Christmas and just brought home another one from the school library, so we have been enjoying them and laughing along. He read one of them to Ella the other night before bed, which was a beautiful sibling moment to witness.
Ella Bella’s Bookshelf: Ella has been using the phonics skills she is learning at school to try to read the beginner early reading book set we got for Tucker a long time ago, and wants to read anything that Tucker is interested in. I just ordered her the “learn to read” Fancy Nancy book set—I will report back on those soon.
My Bookshelf: I finished Ten Prayers That Changed the World by Jean Pierre Isbouts this week and started Poems and Prayers by Matthew McConaughey.
What are you reading?
THE CRAFT CORNER |
Melting Beads
I am probably late to the game, but have you had a crafting experience with melting beads? My sister-in-law is the cool craft queen, and she didn’t disappoint with this one. They are little beads that you make designs on little trays. Then place a sheet of parchment paper between the iron and your design. It then melts into a fun little prize for the kiddos.
Pro tip: Place them on a baking sheet. They are tiny and will be difficult to pick up if they fall while creating.
Until next week, happy reading.
