The Internet is an insidious thing. It's so useful and can be a great tool for learning, sharing, and entertaining.
But it can also sneakily subvert your life in ways you don't even notice.
I have always been a reader. Sort of inevitable given a childhood when gaming and computers were still so rare as to be a novelty. We had a computer when I was young, but all I remember doing on it was playing some game that involved apples. (Maybe? My memories are hazy on this.)
We had a Nintendo when I was slightly older, but I also don't have any really clear memories of that.
What I do have memories of is lying in my bed reading with my reading light. I have very clear memories of the books I read, and when.
Books and reading have been part of my life and identity from a very early age. So imagine how disconcerting it was when I realized I wasn't really reading books much anymore.
It is, of course, entirely possible to read on a computer. And I was actually going days without reading anything that wasn't on my laptop screen.
But this is not a positive sort of reading for me. This is the sort of reading that only requires a minute and a half of attention and focus. It's the sort of reading that involves a lot of negativity--in the news cycle, in confrontational commentary, in political disagreements.
It was not making me happy to read the news or other people's "takes.*"
So, I stopped.
Not that I stopped reading online entirely. I mean, I have a blog. I'm online every day for sure. But I'm also in books every day again, because I'm not looking at news sites or Twitter comments. Instead, I'm looking at these:
So if you're feeling anxious and unsettled, I would gently suggest closing whatever screen you're looking at right now (which would be, uh, this one) and finding something printed on a physical piece of paper to occupy your mind instead. It doesn't solve anything in the larger world, but it can make your own small world feel calmer.
* I hate that word. Have an opinion, please, not a "take."
13 comments:
I am an avid reader. Mostly fiction. Reading right now books from Sarah Addison Allen. These are such a wonderful distraction from worldly events.
Linda
Linda: Oh, I love her books! I just discovered her last year.
I'm a huge reader and have two or three books downtown my Kindle at all times. Before COVID, I was in the library weekly looking for large print books. Now, I download and adjust the font size to my poor eyes.
I am a reader as well.
Gladys Tabor
Helen Hoover
I need newer things to read like these.
I will check Sarah Addison Allen.
I have a question about your bull canning....do you think you could do it like corned beef when you are canning some of it with those type spices. Would it work?
I've recently adopted the practice of writing down the title and author of the books I read in a separate notebook. Occasionally I will comment on a book, but mainly I just list. Try it! It's surprisingly rewarding an a good incentive to read more and read more carefully.
I'm a reader too and have a hard time balancing computer reading vs book reading. There are things online that you really need to do, check the weather and your email, shop, whatever. But I was appalled to realize how much time I was spending online and how hard it was for me to get through a book. So I've tried to adjust it as much as I can but it's a constant balancing act. And I agree with Mil! I've been writing down what I've read for years now and it's great when you want to go back and find a book again that you read a long time ago.
And I have to end by recommending The Egg and I by Betty Macdonald if you haven't read it.
Kit: Yes! I love that book. She has other ones, too, that I read a long time ago, but I actually own "The Egg and I," and it's one of my favorite books to recommend. And, of course, she also wrote the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books, which were some of my favorites as a kid.
G.P.: That might work. Although what makes corned beef corned beef is the brining of it in the salt and spices for a couple of weeks ahead of time, but that probably also contributes to the tenderizing. Not sure if the almost complete lack of fat on the bull meat would have a detrimental effect on the final product, though. Brisket usually has fat running through it.
Your blog is my calming internet place to read online. I’m not a huge fan of reading books on screens if I don’t have to, I prefer traditional books.
Lisa: Thank you. That's very kind of you to say.
I just read the Woman Homesteader letters and Elinor reminded me of you!
Esther: Well, thank you! I mean, I think that was a compliment. :-)
Most definitely a compliment!! You both share a spirit of realistic optimism and get-it-done-ness! :)
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