“Books are the plane, the train and the road. They are the destination and the journey. They are home.”
We are not meant to live in isolation. What makes us healthy and whole is the connections we form with one another. With our families. Our friends. Our colleagues and our community… The thing we need the most to feel healthy has become harder to get.
After more than 30 years in the field of social work, I know one thing to be true. We do not need to be victims to our situation. We have choices to make, each and every day about how we want to live our lives. How we choose to show up for ourselves and each other.
Practice #17 - Read a Good Book
My husband was built for this pandemic. Social isolation? No problem. He’s an introvert. He’s happiest sitting in his favorite chair reading away for hours on end. Seriously. He reads more than anyone I know. He’s been known to finish a thick Tom Clancy tome in just under 48 hours. He reads fast.
I, on the other hand, plod away. I read a chapter here and a chapter there. I read slowly. I get distracted. I get up to fold laundry. To send an email or to scour the cupboard for a snack. At night I climb into bed with the intention of reading. Instead, I fall asleep, my eyes too heavy to stay open. I have at least three books on my nightstand (besides my own, of course). Glennon Doyle’s Untamed, and Jean Hegland’s Still Time and my friend Frances Rivetti’s novel, Big Green Country . Two more open on my Audible app. Richard Powers The Overstory and Delia Owen’s Where the Crawdads Sing. I’m somewhere in the middle of all of them right now.
I’m also a podcast junkie. I got hooked a number of years ago when Serial, the podcast about the Adnan Syed case went viral. NPR’s Invisibilia is a favorite one and Dani Shapiro’s Family Secrets and The New York Times 1619. I love interviews with authors. I listen to learn. To be inspired. Or just to get away.
Try this:
Escape into the world of a book. Travel. Explore. Learn and Grow. Find your way back home.
What are you reading? Post what you’re in the middle of in the comments below. Let’s create a virtual bookshelf of recommendations.
