Sweet Reasons to Pick Up a Book Today

Sweet Reasons to Pick Up a Book Today

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Once upon a time there were still leaves on the trees and the golden light filled up the gaps in the branches. Now, there is nothing but light, when it chooses to come out.

 The colder months have always been my favorite time of the year. Maybe it is because I have always lived in a humid world so winter brought clear sweet air into my lungs without a struggle. Maybe it was because of our incredibly wet, hot summers that I longed for crisp, sharp days when my neck was not constantly damp. Maybe it was my love for tights and boots and cut off denim and frilly dresses. Maybe it was a lot of things, but as I grow older, I find my love of January through March rather waning.

To be clear, it's not that I want hot, wet summers to return either. I don't know what I like in weather. I guess it's all the in between days of the seasons. Days where I can run outside and adventure, but be neither too hot nor too cold. But alas, this week is filled with fluffy white plains and slushy streets and rubber boots. I am inside whenever possible with everything sealed shut instead of letting clear fresh air fill my apartment. I am going through old photos and remembering chilly days that were still soft and golden.

However melancholy the slithers of days may seem, I suppose it will be ok, as long as there are books to read. These dark days are swelling with them and becoming a bigger part of my life with each snowflake that melts onto my chapped lips. Books fill my space and make me cozy. They give me something to do and enlighten me, so perhaps I should explore a few reasons to pick up a book and live in a different world for an afternoon.

• Books make you a better writer. There is nothing better than gaining some inspiration from another's writer's dream and wandering into the abyss of a word document.
• Books give you someplace else to be. I don't have to be trapped in my apartment complex if I am reading about Nick Adams stumbling through the woods.
• Books give you a quiet time. A time for your soul to rest and not think about bills and jobs and what to make for dinner.
• Imagery and vocabulary are increased with the reading of books. Because I love to find new rich words all the time, I can stand to read a little more today.
• I find reading improves my focus. A short attention span becomes longer with each passing page flicking across your fingertips. Reading teaches patience and anticipation. Control.
• Reading about someone else's misfortunes gives you a respect for other people you might not have known before. Anyone who has ever read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has surely clapped the shell together with a stronger appreciation for the struggles of the working poor.
• Reading improves the imagination. The more stories I read, the more stories I associate with other people. You can create an entire world around someone else's image. Someone's cigarette smoke is suddenly a dragon with wings that thud through the clouds and a pie is soon to be stolen by tiny, empty hands.
• Books encourage an appreciation of art. In this post, we discussed the beauty of sweet little tidbits here and there. Having your heart swell at the entrance of beautiful words is one of the best ways to send warmth into each drop of your life's blood.
• Reading is the freest form of entertainment. I mean that in multiple ways. You are freeing your mind to travel into unknown horizons. You are free to choose a subject in anything you like - truly there are no limits. In the most literal sense reading is truly free - public libraries have enough materials for years of exploration.

Soon enough the leaves will begin to sprout again and maybe then I won't need quite so many pages. For now, though, reading is turning out to be the best thing I can do for myself while I wait for icy roads to be cleared. Instead of gripping my boots on coarse salt, I'll recreate the golden days of history.

How are you spending this winter? Are you lucky enough to live somewhere with stable weather? If not, do you go out into the flurries and make a day of it, regardless of white hills in your path? Or do you grab a mug of steaming tea and flip yet another page or click one more episode of a tv series? Do tell, lovelies.

Stay beautiful,

XOXO Liz

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