When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi #BOOKREVIEWS

School is done, which means Summer is finally here and I am finally back to blogging! Get prepared for hopefully a big load of blog posts within the following weeks, as I am finally able to put time back into the things that I enjoy doing, whilst preparing for my gap year and uni! Get ready!!! 😊

What I expected was a beautiful novel about a middle-aged man who gets cancer but that is also a neurosurgeon. (I mean, as beautiful as that can be.) Stupid me should have definitely read the description properly, because what I had in my hands was not just another cancer novel, but the real life story and thoughts of a real neurosurgeon who gets lung cancer, written in a sort of autobiographical way. I was actually genuinely excited to read a fiction work about someone with cancer, so I have to admit that I did feel a little bit let down when I read the first few pages of the first chapter and had to come to a different realization: that this book was going to be very different from what I had expected it to be. Nevertheless, I decided to read the rest of the book with an open mind and forget about what I had anticipated it to be about, and that turned out to a very good idea.

But before I tell you what I thought of Paul Kalanithi's work, here's a better overview of what the novel is actually about:

“At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.”  

(- Source: Amazon U.K.)

It's not a long book itself with only about 220 pages, but the first few pages did seem a little tiring. I found it a little hard to get into the novel, particularly because I felt like some scenes about his youth didn't really seem to add up to the story that the actual novel was about.

The beginning of the novel to me seemed a little too slow and too little thought-through, but throughout the following pages Paul's words and story seem to be getting stronger and more interesting, the further his story and illness progresses. He manages to give both a wonderful insight into the hard work that neurosurgeons all over the world are facing every day, whilst also showing what cancer can do to your mind and life, and how he tried to work and deal with it.

At times it did feel like the focus was set more on his life and story as a neurosurgeon, rather than his actual dealings with cancer. whether that's a problem for you I guess depends on what you're looking for in a book like that. If you only want to get an insight into someone's cancer story, then maybe it is not “the” novel you're looking for. 

Personally I found it really interesting to get an insight into the work of a neurosurgeon, how he has to and does deal with certain things most of us don't even think about when we see these people working. It's very eye-opening in that case, probably because it is written from such a personal angle, because I feel like, way too often, doctors are not really given full acknowledgement for what they do and what they have to deal with in their personal life in order to pursue their work.

If you want to read this book, I definitely recommend at least a slight interest in medicine/neurology, because otherwise, I am not sure how much of a pleasure it will be for you to read.

But please don't get me wrong here – I am not trying to tell you that this is a bad novel or that you shouldn't read it! Definitely not! Yes the beginning is a little slow, yes it's not a perfect piece of written art, but Paul Kalanithi has done a great job at opening eyes. And he does tell it kind of like a story, it's not written like it's just a long article about his life events, and I think that's also what makes it really interesting.

All in all, I'd probably give this book a 3,5 out of 5 stars. It's a little slow at times, and probably not something for someone that isn't at least in the slightest interested in neurology or working in medicine, but it is definitely worth a read. With a beautiful style of writing, Paul Kalanithi tells the reader about his work and life threatening terminal cancer, his experiences, struggles and dealing with both and therefore gives a wonderful insight into what it is like to be both a neuroscientist and a cancer patient, which is really eye-opening. If that sounds like it could be something you're interested in, definitely give it a read. It's not the best book on earth, but it's definitely a good one! 

Have a wonderful week everyone ♥

14 Reasons Why It's Fun To Be Single

Welcome to a new post!

It's the day of the days. The day were most people that are in a relationship are full of joy, love and cringe. But even if you're single, that doesn't have to mean life can't be fun without a partner. In fact it has many benefits, which we should totally talk about more often instead of moaning about how annoying it is to be single and not have a partner. And as it's Valentine's day, I thought it was the best time to do this kind of post. For some reason it turned out a lot shorter than I had initially planned, but I guess length isn't what's most important, right?

1) You never have to fight about the tv programme, nor what to watch next on Netflix.

2) You've got a whole lot more time to yourself.

3) You can do more of what makes you happy.

4) No one is going to get jealous when you want to hang out with someone of the other gender.

5) You can have as many celebrity crushes as you want and dream about them 24/7 if you like.

6) You can declear how hot someone looks without anyone getting jealous.

7) You won't have to get out of bed on Valentine's day to go one a date, but stay in bed with all your snacks and Netflix all day.

8) You don't have to spend money on any anniversairy or Valentine's day gifts, and save some instead - it's a win win situation.

9) No one is going to break your heart. Unless, of course, your crush or your celeb crush gets into a relationship, gets engaged or is about to become a parent.

10) You have the bed allll to yourself.

11) You do whatever you want to, no need for compromises either.

12) You're not dependant on anyone.

13) No need to share anything, especially food.

14) There's no need to worry about having to impress anyone. I mean we shouldn't do that anyway, but we all know that we do it anyway.

See, there's no need to be sad about being single, because it's got so many benefits too. Many of these things would be so different if you were in a relationship, so please don't worry about being on your own right now. That is going to change one day, so you better enjoy the time to yourself right now, as long as you're still able to do so. You will regret not cherishing these things as soon as you're in the middle of a relationship.
I am not saying being in a relationship wouldn't have it's fun sides too, but really, being single just doesn't have to be a bad thing unless you make it one. Go out and enjoy your time as a single person! Do whatever the heck you want and do whatever makes you happy! Don't sit in a corner and cry about it. Look at the positive sides and go out there. Don't bring yourself down about being single. There are so many people out there who are happily singles, so why shouldn't you be that too? Go out, have fun and enjoy yourself! You ain't going to get into a relationship more quickly just because you're crying about not being in one.

So how are you spending this normal Tuesday? 😉

Have a great week ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

Dancing Through Spring

 Welcome to a new post!

This actually was planned to be the typical fashion post. Turns out me and my friend focused more on fun and pretty shots than actual fashion pics. I thought I would show you them anyway, as there are still so many pretty pics that came out of our little shoot in the woods. 

Who needs tons of those typical fashion posts anyway? We had so much fun shooting it away for hours, so why should I keep that from you? For a few hours we were able to forget things like school and completely focus on making some pretty shots instead. If you ever feel like you need to shut yourself off the rest of the world for a while, go grab a friend and a camera, and leave it all behind for a few hours. 

(Funnily (is that even a word? :D) enough it started snowing whilst I was editing the pictures.)

Sorry that they aren't all edited the same way, I just felt like some were better suited for a different effect. So now, let's dig into the pictures! :)

What I'm Wearing:

Jacket: ONLY

Top: H&M (last year)

Jeans: H&M

Shoes: Converse 

Pearl bracelet: Bijou Brigitte

Heart bracelet: Mon Coeur

Thanks to my friend for shooting these, I loved that day. We should do that again as soon as possible. You know who you are ;) ♥

I hope everyone enjoyed this post, as I haven't done any posts like this since I started my blog. Leave me some requests for future blogposts below, maybe even types of outfits I should shoot. :)

Have a lovely week ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

12 Things To Do This Spring

 Welcome to a new post!

Spring has finally arrived, and with it my favourite season of the whole year! Even though we didn't have a deep winter over here in Germany, it is so refreshing to finally go outside with a thinner coat, the sun shining in your face, the cold breeze following it, the birds singing, all the bright colours suddenly coming on again...I am so ready for this Spring!

Sometimes though, we all don't really know what to do with our free time, and now that it's getting slightly warmer and we are all still snuggled into big black warm clothes with hot chocolate and tea, there's a lack of things to do.

Since you all seemed to absolutely love my post about Things To Do During Winter Break, I thought I might as well have to another similar post about things to do this Spring, to give you some more inspiration for this season!

1) Go on a photography adventure

In nowadays societey we spend way too much time on our smartphones, laptops etc. I am not telling you to not do that anymore, but I think we should all take some time off from time to time. Grab a camera and your coat, maybe a friend, your family or your pet and go for a walk. Go somewhere calm but nice to spend some time and take as many pictures as you can. It's a way of disconnecting from your digital life, spending some proper quality time in the nature, and that is definetely what I am going to do as well. You will thank yourself afterwards, because promise me, you will have enjoyed it!

2) Buy some flowers

Flowers are something that I have always loved, since my mum has always had some at home due to her job, hence why it's pretty ironic why every real flower I put in my room dies quicker than it should :D. But go get yourself some nice bright flowers. It will not only make your room appear more spring like, but also puts you into a better mood. It's one of those little things, that can really brighten up a day.

3) Reorganize your wardrobe

I know this sounds pretty boring, but we all have to do it from time to time in order not to go completely mad at some point because we can't find a certain dress, for example. Especially in Autumn and Winter we tend to wear a lot more dark and muddy colours, but now that everything is finally brightening up again and it's getting warmer, why shouldn't our wardrobes do that as well? It might take you a few hours but it will be completely worth it, and you will thank yourself afterwards for an organized wardrobe.

 4) Start something new

This is the point where you can get pretty creative. Starting something new could be a new notebook or a new book, but it could also be starting a certain sport or starting to raise money for a charity close to your heart or starting to train for a marathon, for example. There is plenty of things that you could do! Try to mix it up this Spring, and start something new and exiting, and it might end up being your new favourite thing!

5) Plant something

It's that time of the year where the flowers are finally showing up again, brightening the grass and nature all together, but you could also plant something yourself. I am not saying that you should go and start a huge flower bed in your garden, but you could start with simple things like herbs, for example. You can get seeds and pots in every supplies store, some home stores even sell little pots for you to start with. Planting herbs will also freshen up your kitchen and food a little bit!

6) Picnic in the park

Yes, that's the name of one of Tanya Burr's lipglosses, but it's actually a pretty nice idea for a spring activity! Me and my family used to do this a lot during spring and summer, though not in the park, but all you need for a picnic is a little patch of green, a blanket and tons of food. If you don't want to go to a park, you can always do it in your own garden! It tastes just as nice, but you are on your own, and if you've forgotten something you can easily run back. I don't really know what makes picnics so fascinating and magical, but they are such a nice thing to do, and to be honest they also make great pictures for your Instagram feed :D.

7) Ride a bike

In Spring I seem to be all about exploring the nature I guess, but riding a bike is another lovely thing to do to spend some time outside and away from your phone, playstation and computer. Go look up some nice ice cream places or restaurants in your area for example and drive there! We love doing a trip to an ice cream place near us, which is around 11 kilometers there and back, which sounds so much, but it's so refreshing, and also good for your health (apart from the ice cream, but okay let's not talk about that :D)!

8) Redecorate your room

Spring is the time to add colour to your life again, as I already mentioned, so you could always do that with your room as well. Buy some flowers, add some new bright pictures, put down your christmas decoration :P, and get some new and brightening things. It will brighten your mood as well, whenever you go inside.

9) Bake something fresh and fruity

The weather is getting slightly warmer, but it's still a little fresh, so why not bake something just as fresh and fruity as spring! There is plenty of cakes or cookies or whatever you want to make out there for you to bake and enjoy. If you don't have any idea, ask your mum or nanny, or simply scroll through Pinterest the whole day and find yourself something. It will look nice, and taste amazing, and isn't that worth the work?

10) Exercise

Yees I know this one is a stereotype and not everyone is a sporty person or is able to get themselves out of bed for it, but you could always try something new. Exercising is really healthy for your body, and just a small little workout each day or each few days can already make a huge difference. Try the Blogilates workouts on Youtube. They are pretty quick but not to easy, and if you want to start having a proper workout plan, you can always download one if you subscribe to the newsletter. There's even beginner workouts, and it's a way of using your freetime and also doing something for your body, maybe even outside in the fresh sun!

11) Do a digital detox

We all know how hard it is to leave our phones and other electronics alone for a few hours at some points, but it can actually be quite a relief to not focus on it at all. I actually did an iPod detox the day I started writing this blogpost, and I absolutely enjoyed it. I am so focused on my iPod some days since I mainly use my phone for WhatsApp, that I tend to forget to do other things that I truly enjoy. So I turned it off for a Sunday until a few minutes before I went to go to sleep, and I still had a great time doing things like baking, reading an pre-writing some blogposts. Think about doing it, because it really is really relieving, and I want to do it more often as well now. It will really make you think a bit more about turning your consume down.

12) Dance in the rain

Since my blog name obviously is DANCINGINTHERAIN23 I had to include this point. It's not only about the actual message behind those words, but in this case it's about the actual words. It once started raining on a summer day when I was on the trampoline with my friends, and we stayed on it and jumped and danced around on it in the rain. I still remember it so well, because I had the time of my life at that moment. It was so magical. Try it. Go out in the rain and dance, forget your worries and enjoy your life! (Don't forget that you can easily catch a cold 'n stuff like that if you do it for too long, so please limit your time and get yourself into some new clothes and into the warm house!).



Make sure to leave me some inspiration below and tell me what you are looking forward to the most this spring. :) 

Have a great day! ♥


Love, Jacqueline Xx