Well, this isn't something I have done recently. Blogging. But sitting here right now, trying to quickly get my thoughts down feels good, really good. I don't think I could ever give this little hobby of mine up. No matter how crazy my life gets. This feels right.
So, a little update on life. For just over a year now, I have working a full time -grown up- job in social services, a job that takes up a lot of my emotional energy. From January-April of this year, I was taking one class to try and finish this degree of mine. Presently, I am taking two condensed spring courses that are taking over my life. I will be done one of those classes on July 9th, and the other July 31st. On top of all that, I have decided to pay a little more attention on my health and fitness. Exercising and eating healthy takes up a lot of time! A LOT.
!hat I am trying to say is... My life is busy and I haven't been reading very much. According to Goodreads, I have read 26 books this year- that is 11 books behind my reading goal of 80. And to be perfectly honest, I would say 80% of those books were audio books. That's the cool thing about my job, there are good chunks of the day that I can do my work listening to an audio book, that has been my saving grace this past year. But I miss reading! I miss it terribly. I miss holding a book in my hands, I miss seeing the words on the page, I miss getting lost in the story and investing in the lives of the characters. I also miss this. Blogging.
I miss sitting down and thinking about how I felt about a book, I miss writing those thoughts down sharing them with all of you (let's hope you're all still with me). I miss you, my blogging buddies, I am sorry, but I haven't been visiting other blogs as much as I used to, I will head over immediately feel guilty because I feel like I should be doing something else. I am so far out of bookish loop that I don't even know what new and hot these days (for shame Sara Walker, for shame).
I was kind of inspired today by this article that showed up on my Facebook feed: 11 Ways Busy People Make Time to Read. It is by no means an aha article. It's pretty basic, common practice for us avid readers. However, it's something I have lost sight of these past few months. And it has made me see the light.
I need to start reading again. I need to do this for my peace of mind. Reading is my stress reliever, it's my hideaway, I need to get back to it. Never in my life have I ever been a non-reader. I used to never leave the house without my book, these days, I never leave the house with a book. This is not right. Something needs to change. Even if that something is committing to reading for 30 minutes before I go to bed, maybe it's reading for an hour before dinner (on the days when I am not running to school). I am taking baby steps. Because, really, I'm still busy! But I will be a reader again!
I may still be a little MIA from this platform for the next month or so, but I will be back. I am going to try and post daily over on my Facebook page, so if you're interested in seeing if I am following through on my promises, head over and like that page- I am almost at 1000 likes, if I get there, I am gonna do something huge.
Thank you all for sticking with me, and for reading this essay! I totally appreciate it. Now, I am off to go read a book!
~Happy Reading Everyone!
