Trees on Apu Azez – Photo: L. Weikel

A Stark Reminder   

I suppose, instead of titling this post A Stark Reminder, I could also have called it A Stark Realization.

Both the reminder and the realization have to do with the way life used to be. The really and truly completely different way we lived our daily lives before cell phones.

Good grief, I know; I hear myself! I sound like some old coot opining from her rocking chair as she watches life parade past her from the comfort of her porch.

<<Wait a minute…Too close for comfort…>>

Can’t Remember the Last Time

I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself to sit and read a novel, non-stop, for close to four hours straight.

As I’ve mentioned a bazillion times in these posts (that’s what happens when you write every day – you discover the shockingly limited repertoire of your daily thoughts), reading and writing are two of my top favorite activities in the whole world. And I used to read non-stop. And while it’s true, I take a book everywhere I go, (always have and always will – thank you for that habit, Mommy), I’m chagrined to admit that a vast amount of potential book time is usurped by those fleeting, yet oh-so-seductive siren calls, “I’ll just check the headlines first. And see whether I’ve received any emails. Oh! So-and-so texted me, I better write back…”

Anyway, today I was at a place where there is ‘no service.’ Yea! After making the strikingly uncharacteristic decision not to write in my journal before doing anything else, I planted myself practically in the middle of the creek, my perch on a boulder made more comfortable through use of a backjack, and r-e-a-d.

Unexpected Resistance

It was strange, too. I could feel my inherent discomfort in applying my attention to a long-term task . The first hour or so, I probably looked up, shifted my position, talked to myself, and otherwise distracted myself every five to ten minutes. It was ridiculous.

Eventually, though, it was as if my brain and psyche remembered ‘the good old days’ when I would sit and read for hours and hours on end, and I found that old groove again.

Heaven!

I’m currently in the midst of reading a couple of books at the same time. But the one I immersed myself in today would probably be loved by many of you: The Overstory by Richard Powers.

Ooooh! It’s so delicious. And like all great novels, the deeper you get into it, the more you find it nearly impossible to tear yourself away from it.

The coolest thing, I think, is realizing there’s a connection between the books I’m reading – even if, at first glance, one might think they’re going to be radically different. When you realize that the non-fiction book you’re reading is saying one thing, and the novel that’s begged to be read is pretty much saying the same thing, only displaying it via fictional characters – you know you’re being sent a message.

Where I Am

I’m in a state of bliss, having taken a deep dive into the essence of The Overstory and realized I’m getting a message. A consistent message. From a variety of sources.

But this day, I managed to slow myself down, remember the way life used to be when we weren’t tethered to the sugar-water bait of the cell phone, and immersed myself in other worlds for a while.

A stark reminder of something I don’t do enough.

(T-816)