Hello writers, students, professors, bloggers (i.e., readers.)
We are all spectacularly busy people here; the editors of AFLM all work, try to run a magazine, blog regularly, and make an attempt at having some sort of healthy social life, and I'm sure the same is true of you. You're a busy person and it's a busy world we live in, full of distractions and a thousand things a day that can suck away your time. So why not give into one of the most edifying time-sucks around and read a book?
I haven't been reading much recently and I've been worse for not picking up one of my favorites and re-reading it for the simple joy of getting out of my head.
I've been buying books, collecting them into neat little stacks, occasionally re-organizing them either alphabetically or by the order in which I'd like to read them, looking at them and thinking about them, but not reading them.
All of us here know that books are fantastic, but it's easy to skip reading the literature that you like when you have to read 600 pages a week to keep up with your classes, or when you know that there's a stack of ready-to-grade essays sitting at home.
Sometimes the other stuff can wait. Sometimes it's more important to pick up a book that's as well worn and known as your favorite pair of jeans and sinking into it like a hot, scented bath for your brain.
I had a lot of plans last weekend, plenty of things to get ready for this week, and a pretty heavy schedule planned for Saturday. I had to get my oil changed, my car smogged and registered, take cash out of one bank and put it in another, meet with friends for dinner and prepare for an impromptu dessert party.
Most of that went straight out of the window when I impulsively threw Chuck Palahniuk's Rant in my purse as I was heading out to Jiffy Lube. I started reading while my oil was being changed and never really stopped. A few things on my schedule stayed on target but a lot more got brushed off, and you know what? It wasn't the end of the world. Looking back I realized that reading the latest Stephen King instead of finishing class reading didn't herald the apocalypse either. Nor did rereading LOTR cause the heat death of the universe, even though I did so when I was supposed to be studying for finals and planning my wedding simultaneously. Reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at my friend's son's 6th birthday party did cause a few problems, but who cares when a 6-year-old calls them a nerd?
Reading a book - good or bad doesn't matter - for the sake of the pure joy of reading is a better balm to my mental bruises and a better boost to my productivity (after I've finished, of course) than anything else I can think of.
It's a busy world. We're all busy people.
Read something you love anyway - the stars will keep their places in the sky, I promise.
If anyone is interested in a fantastic place to pick up reading (or procrastinating) material, try checking out Thrift Books online - fair selection, great prices, and (typically) free shipping make it pretty easy to always have an escape route from reality on hand.
Cheers,
Stay sane,
- Alli
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