Early 2016, I signed up, with myself, to do a reading marathon. I meant to read 42 books in a year. That averaged to 3.5 books per month. I was still working 20h a week back then and not much of a reader... never was. But it actually grew on me and I completed my challenge by October - so I read 4.2 books per month!
Then someone suggested I kept reading to 150 and see what happened... and I did! By the end of 2017 I was there. I kept picking up speed.
And I never stopped. I am now an avid reader. Always a pile at home of books to be read. I will never stop. But I stopped counting. Late 2017...
It has changed me in so many ways.
It brought me knowledge. Lots of it.
It widened my horizon.
It has help me understand myself.
It helped me heal physically, emotionally and spiritually.
It sparkled my creativity.
It challenged me.
It brought me freedom.
I kept a list of books to be read and read in the above pictured notebook. There were books in there people suggested, books I saw someone reading, books from an author I liked, books I saw at the library and in bookstores... books I came across that attracted me... so many books!
I tried different types of lists... to make it more organize, simpler, neater, etc... but it got messy anyhow... and it was cumbersome! Below is the latest list I tried... with a legend and everything! It was super clean!!! But even more difficult to keep up with...
Every time I would bring a book back from the library, I would add it and code it.., then once read, cross it of. Lately, I've found myself lenient with the list keeping... So before bringing books back I have to double check it's all under control!
This morning I woke up, did my yoga/meditation and suddenly the List just no longer made any sense... I realized I wanted that list to prove that I am an avid reader... to keep track of the number and quality of books I read... but for what? For who? This is very unlike me... and as time went by, I had to admit to myself that I was doing that for the wrong reasons. I'm not gonna go all sentimental on you but I was raised been told that I didn't like reading, that the books I chose were too easy, childish, not deep enough, not big enough, from the wrong authors... as I was compared to my sibling. And it stuck. I was also told that I was bad at writing... basically anything to do with words... So for years I avoided reading and writing. Or hide what I was reading/writing.
Enough.
I like to read. All sorts of things... science, nature, sociology, lifestyle, philosophy, spiritual, self-help, psychology, classic novel, modern novel... in French or English... big or small... deep to crack my head open to very light... and that is OK.
I read for ME (not to prove to anyone that I do).
To make me feel good. To learn. To use my brain.
Because I like it.
I love it!!!
And it makes me feel free.
But the List and the keeping track doesn't.
So what if I take out a book I already read? If I don't recall it, perhaps I should read it again.
I trust, by experience, that the right book will show up at the right time! It will.
So from now on, I only have this very short list that I keep of books I want to read just in case... and just because I really want to read them or re-read them eventually. I will no longer have a list bigger than that. And no legends no color coding, no dating, etc...
Just reading.
And writing.
This blog.
And my second book.
For those of you who would be interested, here's a picture of my first book (published in 2013) which you can get at Indigo or Amazon.
And what about you?
Do you like to read? What books? Genre?
Do you like to write?
Chloe 💜&✌
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