May is my challenging month.Marked by beautiful celebrations and life-changing events, it’s a big one.

This year, our daughter turned 21 in May.
We celebrated 25 years of marriage, and there’s always Mother’s Day.

It’s also the month we laid my father to rest and there were other, unexpected anniversaries that required a sharp pivot and made me question my belief in people.

So, with all that and the daily news barking global death and destruction and mad men doing bad things, I look for quiet in May.

This leads me to some recommendations.

The first, pleasantly unexpected, came in the form of an octopus named Marcellus. Watch Remarkably Bright Creatures if you can – it’s calm and beautiful, complex but uncomplicated.

Typically a fan of psycho thrillers and action, I was in no frame for holding my breath and upping the heart palpitations this month, so actress Sally Field and Marcellus the octopus struck the perfect pace.

The second wonder was finishing a book I began reading more than a year ago. While beautifully written, the grit and sadness of Trent Dalton’s of Lola in the Mirror prevented me reading more than a few chapters at a time.

Finally, and fittingly on Mothers’ Day (IYKYK), I made it to the end. If you’ve read Boy Swallows Universe, you may be mentally prepared for the urban angst but clearly I needed more time to clear some of the emotional hurdles.

Sometimes, in hard or complicated seasons, we don’t need more intensity.
We need softness and room to breathe.

If May has felt big for you, I’d recommend both.