Old School

There’s something I need to make some times for: reading corner.

There are a lot of things that I enjoy. I am a man of eclectic tastes, and I have a lot of room for enjoyment of a lot of different things. One of the things that I have enjoyed the longest, has been books.

English: A multi-volume Latin dictionary (Egidio Forcellini: Totius Latinitatis Lexicon, 1858–87) in a table in the main reading room of the University Library of Graz. Picture taken and uploaded on 15 Dec 2005 by Dr. Marcus Gossler. Español: Diccionario de latín (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My family always read to me and with me. They said it was important that I enjoy reading. I always did. It was my favorite part of school. We would have silent reading times, and I always looked forward to them. I was always reading something new.

As a child with no siblings for the first nine years of my life, I had a lot of free time. I wasn’t involved in a lot of activities, and even when I got older some medical things prevented more athletic activities. Reading was something that was always there for me.

I just talked about the escape. That was something that was always special about reading. It was easy for me to project myself into the story I was reading. It still kind of is. I had no trouble finding myself to be a part of what was happening. It made reading more real than the things I was doing everyday.

It did result in probably a few less friends than if I had been involved in something more social. I was always more content to sit quietly in the corner and read than to spend time with the other kids. My parents had to force me to go outside, because I would rather sit inside and read a story.

I still enjoy reading, but I don’t have as much time to do it as I would like. Some of that is due to my nature. I have a high inertia, if you want to think of it that way. I tend to slowly ramp myself into things, and then I want to keep doing them for extended periods of time. That isn’t really how it works being a grown up.

I can’t just wake up and decide ‘I’d like to read today’ and then spend all day curled up reading. There are other things that I have to do. That’s something that I’ve always had to deal with. That’s a part of who I am. I’m slow to get started and hard to get stopped. It’s also my preferred method of playing video games.

I need to find some time to read. I need to make some coffee or tea, find a snack, get a comfy blanket(I have one that I made in college that’s 8 feet wide by 12 feet long), and find a safe spot to just get lost in a story. It would do wonders for me.

Reading was always something that was special to me. Because of my tendency to project myself into the story, it was like the books were written just for me. Books make me feel like I’m the most important person in the world. Real life doesn’t often make you feel that way.

I’m hoping with the holidays coming up, I might be able to find some time. I’ve got a book or two waiting for me, but if any one has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.