Revisiting some Favorites

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I believe this is going to be a year of some serious “re-reading”.  Not of fiction – I don’t have much patience for rereading a work of fiction.  Not that I don’t read them, I certainly do – but I’m more of a devourer.  I devour a piece of fiction and either love it, or don’t finish it.  I’m way beyond the point of feeling obligated to give a novel more of a chance.  If I’m not identifying or caring about something in the first hundred pages or so, I close the book and move on.  I do feel bad for the author that hasn’t grabbed me, but I figure there are plenty of people in the world, not all of the authors need me to love them.  Of course there have been more than a few works have fiction that have grabbed me and taken me on a ride into worlds I’d never dreamed of, but lately I don’t seem to find as many of them as I used to – and once the story is done, I move on.  There aren’t many works of fiction that I’ve read more than once.  It’s also harder to find the time to read than it used to be. There are so many things pulling for my attention all the time; my work, my children, cooking, writing, all the other creative things that I feel compelled to try, or to try again… A passive, quiet, little book barely has a chance in my world.

When we moved last July, I packed up a box of books and considered donating them.  But, I thought, I really don’t remember what’s in those books.  I know I’ve read them – some more than once, but I couldn’t quite place what I’d learned. I know enjoyed going through them, but their impact?  Well, I couldn’t remember. To be fair, I’ve been raising children for sixteen years.  And truly, I don’t believe you really start to get your brain back until your children can start doing things for themselves.  When you can take an hour long bath, with the music on and no one interrupts you, or when you can spend the day in bed because you’re sick and actually get away with it?  That’s when you can start focusing on things other than the little humans that you’re raising.  Not because they no longer need you, but because they no longer need you 24/7/365… Most of the books in question I read before that point in my life so it’s no wonder I can’t remember much.

But I digress.

The vast majority of these books are on spirituality and creativity and in hindsight I can see that I was desperate to carve something out for myself – never quite forgetting that I was in fact, more than “mommy” – so now that my children are teens and can be left for longer periods of time without having to worry that they’ll climb on the entertainment center, or scramble eggs on the floor, I have the time to explore and nurture this side of myself.

To that end, I have the books stacked up and ready to go and I’m determined to give each one of them another go.  I’m quite excited as they’re written by some of my favorites; Marianne Williamson, Julia Cameron, Eckardt Tolle, Gary Zukav and quite a few others. I’ve just finished “A Return to Love” and I got so much more out of it than I remember from the last time.  Next up is Julia’s “The Sound of Paper” and one chapter in – I feel like I’m having a conversation with an old friend.

If you’d like to follow along – I have a page of the list of books I’m reading or you could be my friend on Goodreads…

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