Books, Travel, Learning and Moral Outrage

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova from Pexels

Friday morning, I woke with a contented sigh. Rain and wind were in the forecast. I had nothing scheduled. Days like this are such a gift. My husband was stirring, and Bella, who is only allowed on the bed in the morning, had stretched her long, lanky body between us, all four legs straight up in the air with her head resting on my stomach.

One of the joys of retirement is not having to set an alarm clock. On days when we have nothing scheduled, my husband and I will often stay in bed with our morning coffee, chatting, reading the news, and catching up on life.

The best part of these lazy mornings? Finally reading through the many tabs open on my laptop - articles, book recommendations, women bloggers, and learning opportunities. I know there are better ways to store information but as I messaged my friend Tracy, “I have a gazillion tabs open on my computer and I am all over the place - one of my favourite places to be!”

This week I thought I would share the content of my open tabs with you - maybe you will find a reason to open multiple tabs on your device! You can click on anything that is underlined to read more.

Moral Outrage

I will get the dark, negative one out of the way first! These days, I feel much like I did during those early days of the pandemic - anxious, scared, and checking the news far too often! However, this time, much of my focus is on morality. I am morally outraged at what is happening and feel helpless. Even worse, I am experiencing moral distress, ‘the sense that others cannot grasp a moral significance or imperative that is so apparent to many of us’. Moral distress results from repeatedly not having our values respected, individually or collectively. It is linked to symptoms of burnout. I expect this contributes to the heaviness I am feeling these days. Six open tabs connect to articles on this subject, including the seven basic building blocks of morality, the moral responsibility of being an informed citizen, and an article on how to cultivate moral resilience.

Books, Books and More Books!

When I was young, I devoured historical fiction. Not so much these days but I have a tab open for Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner. Someone on Facebook shared that this is the best historical fiction book she has ever read! If you open the link, you will see that I have switched from GoodReads to The Story Graph, as I expect many of you have. Why? Goodreads is owned by Amazon, while The StoryGraph is a Black woman-owned company. 

I continue to enjoy books with older female characters. Another tab I have open is for the article, 7 Novels About Women Over Sixty Defying Societal Expectations. None of the authors of these books are familiar to me except Tove Jansson. My search for this article led to another open tab from the Ottawa Public Library, a community created list of Feisty Older Women in Fiction. Now I just need to find the time to read all these books!

Solo Travel, Pilgrimages, and Destinations

Another tab I have open on my laptop is for Travel Bug Tonic. This is not about travel planning. Tracy, the website's founder, writes, “It's not just about where you go, it's how and why you move through the world, and the stories you gather along the way – including the story of you.” Tracy travelled to Morocco last fall. In a blog post she shared that Morocco left a deeper and more impactful mark than other places she had visited. She made a special connection to a female tour guide there and is now planning a trip for March 2026. She is taking names for women who might be interested in joining her. I have added my name to the list! Morocco left a lasting impression on me after my solo visit in 2016. I would love to go back for a woman-focused visit! Sounds interesting? Email Tracy for details at tracy@travelbugtonic.com - no commitment required.

Other tabs I currently have open? My friend Suzanne is in Mallorca with her mother. Her photos of their finca in Valldemossa are stunning. The images tab for Valldemossa has me marvelling at the scenery - this might be a perfect stopover after a trip to Morocco!

My husband and I have been discussing our next adventure. If I can strengthen my arthritic knees, we would love to go on another walking holiday. As we begin planning, I have a tab open for wayfaring in Britain as well as a link to the movie trailer for The Way, My Way.

A Lifetime of Learning

I love learning - digging deeper into topics I have been interested in since adolescence, and delving into the new! I have tabs open on three topics I want to learn more about. 

A participant in one of my writing groups spoke of grace as an action this week and told us about a book she is reading, The Way of Grace by Miranda Macpherson. This is a concept I am unfamiliar with; I want to know more.

This same woman mentioned her growing interest in death and dying. She is taking some workshops through a death doula association. The next day, the topic of death doulas came up in another workshop. I know two women who are death doulas and I am intrigued by their experiences. More tabs are open to explore this topic!  I am not interested in being a death doula, however I am interested in helping women explore stories about death.

And, from a more practical perspective, it seems many of you find Ageless Possibilities through sheer luck! My remaining open tabs focus on webinars and learning resources to increase the visibility of my website to search engines.

Do you also keep tabs open on your computer? Have you clicked tabs in this blog post that you want to explore? Travel? Books? Learning? Or self-care information for your stricken soul? Maybe even all of the above? If so, then we are truly kindred spirits!