I have a huge library. Most of it is in storage until I move into a bigger place, but three overflowing bookcases currently line my bedroom wall. Most of my books are non-fiction: reference books on energy healing, energy psychology, spirituality, essential oils, nutrition, nature, philosophy, marketing, writing, cooking, music and theatre. The last time I moved, I sold 85 books and it hurt. I love books.
According to my mother, someone once said that in the future, a horned demon would be in all homes. This unknown futurist was chanelling a blurry vision of a television – with rabbit ears or “horns.” TV has certainly been a weapon of mass distraction for decades. Except for me. When I went away to McMaster University, I lived in a student house with four other girls. We decided to not spend money on cable TV. Without cable, it wasn’t worth turning the thing on. The snow on the screen was too annoying. Two years in that house set me up for another six years without cable. Instead, I read. I read a lot.
I was already immensely interested in alternative medicine. This began at age 15. I was at school studying music and drama, but all my extra-curricular reading and activities involved energy medicine. At one point, I had a book on herbs pretty much memorized. Friends would call me with all kinds of symptoms and ask what they should take. I could quickly “prescribe” a list of herbs to improve their condition. I was publically mocked, but secretly sought by most who knew of my pure (alternative) geekiness.
If I’d had a television (with cable) during those years, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did. For this, I am grateful the cable company charged so much that five students didn’t think it was worth it, even with each of us just paying a fraction of the cost.
But now it’s not television that distracts me; it’s the computer. Not a horned demon, but a multi-tailed one (if you don’t have wireless). The computer being on keeps me from reading. That’s why, until I began blogging daily, I would sometimes not turn on the computer for a few days. I would still get e-mails on my Blackberry, so I wasn’t missing anything important. Now that I am writing every day, I need to make time to read more. I have dozens of books I haven’t touched yet.
I can’t stress over this, as reading has always been a pleasure. In the spirit of improving my life, I choose to add more pleasure through reading at least twice each week. If I can get into bed even earlier, I would like to read just before sleeping, to help settle down. With so much material literally by my bedside, there must be an enchanted herb I can read about, in a far-away land, that makes a whole kingdom happy…
