Getting Lost in a Good Book

The joy of reading for pleasure

Over the last week I have done something that I don’t often do unless it’s holiday time. I’ve read a book. A whole book. All 283 pages of it. I had decided that my time was being wasted watching TV programmes on my phone and I was disturbing my sleep by doing that before I went to sleep, sometimes for several hours. So last week I looked at my bookshelves and picked out a book I’ve had for a while, “A Year of Living Simply” by Kate Humble.

Sometimes it helps when you “know” an author. You can hear their voice, phrasing and tone in your head as you read. It was a little like that with this book, but I can’t honestly say I’ve watched Kate on TV very often. The book was really interesting though. I expected something very different. I think I was expecting it to be some kind of month by month explanation of things she did to make life more simple and straightforward but it’s not that at all. The chapters hold details of things she did, places she visited and people she met with to find out more about implementing this way of living simply. For example, she arranged to go to New Mexico to take part in building Earthships, which are homes made from recycled materials. I Googled them and they’re really beautiful constructions - not what I had in my mind when I read the book. She visited places in the UK which have initiatives to create a real sense of community and a sense of “make do and mend” rather than a throw away society.

The book was interesting. I would have given up on it after a couple of evenings if it hadn’t been. But what I’ve found is that I’ve enjoyed the experience of just reading a book for the sake of reading the book. Yes, I’ve learned things, but that wasn’t the purpose of picking up the book. The purpose was really to just switch off from the things that were steamrolling their way through my mind. And it’s worked. To some extent.

I was in the room where I keep most of my books earlier today and looked at some of the texts on the shelves that I’ve bought recently. They all have a similar kind of theme. There’s “The Wild Remedy” by Emma Mitchell. I read that one in a holiday a year or two back. It was another book that wasn’t quite what I was expecting but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I have books about simplifying your life, forest bathing, nature, hygge and Scandinavian traditions and lifestyle. I think that there’s something in me that is just craving a less pressured and stressful life. There are many aspects of life that I have no control over. I’m not in a position financially to be able to leave my job, nor do I really want to. But it is a source of a lot of stress and I often end up being in the building until quite late or working at home until late in the evening. However, I have made changes recently and I’m working on working at work and leaving the building around 4.30pm. There are exceptions to that but those exceptions need to remain exactly that: exceptions.

The nights are much lighter now. We have around six hours more daylight than we did during December. That’s almost a full working day! Now, I’m not going to get up at dawn. I need sleep. But I can use the daylight hours to be outdoors. I’m hopeful that with the month of May we will have some warmer temperatures, even if the rain continues. I’m planning to use my weekends and holidays to work in the garden and the yard and get them ready for the summer months. The whole idea of getting outside and spending time in nature really does appeal which may sound very out of character if you know me personally! But it’s true. I feel like I need to recharge. I don’t want more “stuff.” I’ve got more “stuff” than I could ever need in a lifetime to be honest with you but the last year has made me and my family realise just how much “stuff” we acquire in a lifetime and what happens to it once you’re gone. (Apologies if that sounds a little morbid.) What I actually want to acquire is memories and friendships and a life that is lived with joy.

So I’m going to pull another book down from the shelf tonight, with a similar theme no doubt, and see where the next one takes me.

Have you read any good books lately on a similar kind of theme? Let me know if you have any recommendations!