I’m not completely sure where my obsession with short stories started from but it is fairly new I think and I’m now so interested in reading them. This book is in its fourth year. I’ve read the first two books, somehow missed out on getting the 2019 one and have just recently finished this on. There are twenty stories and although they are all amazing, I have picked out some of the ones that left a lasting impression.

I’ve read this book by Charlie Mackesy once already but now my daughter is reading at school, it’s made me want to read it again.

The book is very simple and easy to read but the meanings behind them are so profound, it’s beautiful. Each page can be read on its own and you can dip in and out as you please with beautiful pictures of the four characters. Some of the pictures are in colour and some are in black and white sketches. Seeing them on Instagram and possibly other social media platforms make it easier to be reminded of them.

I’ve added some links to my favourite pages that he has on Instagram.

I want to make memories,
Not to-do lists.

I want to feel the squeeze of my child’s arms,
Not the pressure of over-commitment.

I want to get lost in conversation with the people I love,
Not consumed by a sea of unimportant emails.

I want to be overwhelmed by sunsets that give me hope,
Not by overloaded agendas that steal my joy.

I want the noise of my life to be a mixture of laughter and gratitude,
Not the intrusive buzz of cell phones and text messages.

I am letting go of distraction & perfection
To live a more simple life consisting of what really matters.

I’m living Hands Free.

© Rachel Macy Stafford 2010

Thought this poem would be apt especially with lockdown easing and the busy-ness of life slowly coming back.

I’ve attached links to two of her book reviews that I have done here:

Hands Free Mama

Hands Free Life

Rachel has also written another two books which I still need to read. They are Only Love Today and Love, Live Now.

Here is my book review of To Love and Let Go by Rachel Brathen.

Wow! What a powerful and heart-wrenching book. I read this book on a weekend spa break and was openly crying over the pages. I felt like I was there with Rachel Brathen, feeling her pain as she dealt with the death of the three closest people in her life. At the same time, she had to deal with the fragility of her mum’s life and the heartaches that came with her mum trying to commit suicide several times for various reasons.