Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World (book review)

Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World

BOOK DESCRIPTION: 

Life is chaotic. But you can choose to live it differently.

It doesn't always feel like it, but we do have the freedom to live life differently than what's "normal."

The popular blogger—founder of the nationally recognized Simple Mom family of online resources—tells the story of her family’s ongoing quest to live more simply, fully, and intentionally.

Part memoir, part travelogue, part practical guide, Notes from a Blue Bike takes you from a hillside in Bosnia to a Turkish high-rise to a congested Austin suburb to a small town in Oregon. It chronicles toddler spats, schooling dilemmas, and dinnertime drama as well as entrepreneurial adventures and family excursions via plane, train, automobile, and blue cruiser bike.

Entertaining, thoughtful, and compelling—but never shrill or dogmatic—Notes from a Blue Bike invites you to pay attention to who you are and what your family needs and then make some choices. 

MY THOUGHTS:

WOW. WOW. WOW. That was my first reaction as I was reading Notes From a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World by Tsh Oxenreider. Mrs. Oxenreider shares her family's story of living more simply, more intentionally, and happier in a style that is both biographical and story-telling. She offers her experiences of changing her family's life to living a life full of purpose and meaning, while also becoming simpler and fuller. She does not though say that her families journey is the be all, end all of living purposeful lives. Instead, she offers her experiences as examples and as a jumping off point to thinking about how we can simplify and make our own personal lives more purposeful. 

I love the set up of this book. Mrs. Oxenreider sets her book up into 7 sections based on different areas of her family's life that she has changed to help her live more intentionally and with more purpose. The first section,  "Awakening", shares where she and her family became more aware of the need to live more intentionally in their own life and how they started the process. The sections that follow share her family's changes and choices that they have made in their lives that affect their goal of living life with purpose in the areas of food, work, education, travel, entertainment, and personal revival. (She also helps you think through each section with discussion questions at the end of the book based on each section.)

I love that Mrs. Oxenreider does not force feed you her own philosophies. Instead she writes in such a way that gets you to think about what YOUR own families priorities are and she makes you question whether you are living YOUR own life intentionally. I love that she is not judgemental; in fact she writes " Living intentionally ultimately means staying true to yourself and how your family is made. As you scour the Internet for ideas, and as you read this book, listen to that still, small voice that says, This is you......We're each given freedom to choose our decisions, and that responsibility is the very definition of living with intention, after all: making daily choices so that your life lines up with your passions and values. It should all make sense in your head." (p. 214) 

This book was very thought provoking to me. It spoke to my own desire to live a life full of passion and moving in a direction that is right for our family even though it may not be what the "Joneses" think is right or wrong. This book has given me permission to do what is right for our family! 

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone looking to live more intentionally in their life in pursuit of their own passions and values. 

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free from the publisher and Booklook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.