I find that I really make the most of a day off when I only have one during the week as opposed to two. With an extra day, I tend to squander more and put off until the next day what I can do this day. So I've been putting in extra hours at work when I can, and it has been affecting my chi. Self-admittedly, the affect is not all bad. It's just change, and I have a love hate relationship with flux...albeit more loathe than lust.
Working in favor of my positive mood today, was the walk I took first thing. It was long and sunny and head clearing. Especially after I finally turned off the Nicholas Sparks novel I've been listening to recently. I silenced it for good. I give myself credit for getting all the way to chapter 12, and at the same time I chastise myself for devoting so much precious time to such sentimental chick lit crap. It was baaaaad. The story was tedious and trite, but the absolute painful part was the male narrator's poor excuse for a southern bell accent. Think nails on the chalkboard, and with that I fear I'm being mild. I vow never again to read or listen to another Sparks novel ever. It's just not my thing.
I've always finished every novel I've started no matter what. Well, always up until about a year ago when I could name the 5 novels that I'd yet to finish (but still planned to). Now I seem to be abandoning ship with regular frequency. I cannot explain it. Some of these castaways have come highly recommended by readers I respect, but just aren't griping or even compelling to me, and others I really think are gems, yet and I still struggle to forge through. I just cannot commit. Hmmm there's that C word. Take Cutting For Stone. Love it. The story, the setting, the writing. It's smartly crafted and wonderfully told. Smart and wonderful and I've owned it since summer, started it on 3 different occasions and am now only 1/3 through. Yesterday I started Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw, and sadly Stone doesn't stand a chance until I finish this tell-all.
So I was really bothered by my lack of fortitude. I felt like my waning perseverance was a weakness or a flaw. Until today, when I admitted that some books are not worth trudging through. I turned off Sparks and felt immediate relief. That made me realize that if a story isn't even entertaining, it's not worth any time I invest in it because there are hundreds or even thousands of works I still want to read. It's less flaw and more bad fit. I can live with that.
So I felt inspired by my walk and my gift (the gift of giving up), and I had such a productive day. I didn't do anything I wanted, but I did a long, nagging list of things I needed to do, and trust me when I say that feels even better....exhausting, but good.
And at the end of a long day, I had a good chuckle. Miss Bit was completely oblivious that I was snapping pictures of her enjoying her cheesey quesadilla as she watched Little House on the Prairie on the I Pad. As she watched Little House on the I Pad! The irony of watching a show about the pioneer days on her portable everything (t.v./radio/camera/computer) just chaws me. It's so right and so wrong and so funny.
That's just good.
No comments:
Post a Comment