33. Reading is Fundamental

Photography by ruminatrix

I love reading. When I was a little girl, I would beg my mother to take me to the local public library. And there I would load up on all kinds of delicious books--classics like Anne of Green Gables and Little Women and virtually every book in the Nancy Drew series. I would stack the books up high in my arms and try to get them to the front desk to check out. Sometimes my mother would say, "How are you going to get through all of those books." But in the end, she knew that I would. When I got home, I would cloister myself away in my bedroom or laze around outside reading in the yard. It was my greatest pleasure. And it was the perfect time and space travel enabler. But sadly, those days of leisurely reading with no care for time are gone. Work and friends and family and obligations and sleep have overtaken my reading time. For years, "read more" has been on my New Year's resolution list. And even though it was a hope, I'm not quite sure I believed it was possible to read all of the books on my to-read list. That is until I read about Nina Sankovitch in the New York Times. She committed to reading a book a day for 365 days and then posting a short review about each one on her blog, readallday.org.

I was so inspired by her quest, that I thought I would share the article link with you here. Although time is precious and limited, it's important to create the time for the things that bring you joy. I may not be able to read a book a day--Nina is retired and has admitted that she cut out almost all other activities to work on this project--but she does talk about some interesting ways to get the reading done. On the bus, waiting in line, sitting in the doctor's office. There are a lot of pockets of wasted time that, if we added them up, equal precious reading time. Check out the article and get started on that book that you've been meaning to read but haven't gotten around to.