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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #368

On The Blog Recently

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In My Reading Life

I read Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman. This is a classic self-help book that I've seen around for years. The author claims that modern society places too much importance on intelligence and not enough on self-awareness. If you want to be successful in the modern world, you need to know how to manage your emotions and recognize emotions in others. We don't teach those skills in school. The author argues that we should. I also think we should because fear and anger are profitable. That's why news stations always show the worst stuff first and save the happy stories for the end. We're encouraged to be scared and angry all the time, and if we don't know how to control ourselves, we'll take out our emotions on each other.

A lot of the book focuses on schools and how they can help children develop emotional intelligence.

This book did help me understand myself better. The author talks about the causes of depression and anxiety, which is helpful because I have those. It was interesting to learn about what's happening in my brain when things get really bad.

It also solved some mysteries about my childhood. I guess my elementary school recognized that I had depression and anxiety and attempted to cure me? I spent a lot of time with the school counselor, and we did some of the exercises discussed in this book, but I had no idea why I was doing the exercises. None of the other kids had "emotional intelligence" homework. I guess I should give my school props for attempting to help, even if I didn't understand why I needed help. No one bothered explaining depression or anxiety to me. I just assumed I was stupid and lazy, and they were punishing me with extra schoolwork.

Anyway, the studies mentioned in the book were done in the 1970s and 80s. I wish there was a newer version with updated studies. The world has changed a lot since 1970. The book was still pretty interesting, though.

Then I went to a college to ask about enrolling in EMT classes. I learned that I can't enroll until I pass the prerequisite class with an 86% or better. I signed up for that class and read a book for it. The book is the BLS (Basic Life Support) Provider Manual. It teaches you how to do CPR. I guess it's a great book because I passed my CPR skills test. Thanks, book!

We had some rainy days at work, so I conquered all 963 pages of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. My library's website had this book labeled as a romance. Dear reader, it is most certainly not a romance. It's actually pretty tragic. It's about upper-class Russians in the 1800s who are struggling with how empty and phony their lives feel. Their public appearance is more important to them than their happiness. They stay in bad relationships and do charity work because it looks good, not because it brings them joy. Since everybody is miserable, they have affairs and make bad choices.

After reading several Russian classics, I've come to the conclusion that Russians in the 1800s were very bored. This book is like a soap opera. There are a ton of characters, and they all have massive amounts of angst. It takes a lot of concentration to remember how everybody is connected. There are a lot of tedious political conversations. I struggled with the book at first, but I liked it more as I got deeper into the drama. It's like watching a trainwreck. You know that something awful is going to happen as a result of the characters' actions, but you're not sure how bad the carnage will be.

I think the author did a great job with the characters' emotions, especially Anna's. She's not a likeable character, but I understand her confusion and desperation. Her whole life has felt fake. She doesn't know if people actually love her, or if they're just using her. Her friends ditch her immediately when her affair becomes public. It would be a terrible way to live.

I can't say I love this book because I was often bored, but I'm glad I read it. It gives some interesting insight into the values of the upper-class.

Then I read Murder In The Dark: Short Fictions And Prose Poems by Margaret Atwood. I thought prose poems might be more accessible than other poems, but nope, I was thoroughly confused. The poems mostly just seem like random sentences tossed together. I'm not sure what I was supposed to get out of reading them.

I did like a few of them. Atwood talks a lot about language and storytelling. I like how playful those poems are. For example, there's a choose your own adventure romance. The characters go through horrific things but still end up with a happily ever after. That's clever. I guess. I don't know. I didn't get this book.

In The Rest Of My Life

It feels like a million things have happened since I last wrote a Sunday Post. Here's what's going on:

1. Baby Brooklyn graduated from preschool. She starts kindergarten in August.
2. If I pass my EMT prerequisite, I'll also start school in August. It'll be my 12th year of college.
3. I survived my first super-busy weekend of 2024 at my park ranger job. We had a water rescue that ended well, a cardiac arrest that ended badly, and several law enforcement calls because the tourists were wilding. This is why I need EMT classes. People are stressing me out.
4. I've somehow gotten a lot of reading done. And I've been somewhat good at going to the gym. I guess I'm slightly winning at life, even if I'm completely overwhelmed.
5. Here are some animals from my trail cameras. We have baby foxes!

Enjoy Your Holiday Weekend. Don't Be Stupid.

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!