Saturday, January 1, 2011

Bookworm

I am in love with books, and could be considered a total, diehard, bookworm by certain circles. There I said it. I have been since I was a child. Books to me are magical places of escape, comfort, friendship, love, solace, adventure, knowledge... and so much more (getting overwhelmed by descriptors there). I simply do not understand people that have no interest in reading. For me it is a necessity, like breathing, water, and food, I must read regularly. I can easily read an engrossing book in 8 to 10 hours, no problem, and then start a new book with glee. As a child, I escaped into books with regularity, many pictures of that time feature me, with the family pets by my side, reading. We used to go get 30 books from the library for the month, I would read all or most of them, and return for another 30.
I have been able, over the last five years, to cut back on spending, and stop buying most things, but not books. Granted, I mostly buy used books, but still, I have been cheating on my anti consumer diet, and buying books whenever possible. I have boxes of books I haven't gotten around to reading yet, but still, I get a recommendation to a book that intrigues me, and I have to have it, beautiful books! Going to a book store is pure happiness, giddiness, I can get lost for hours, selecting books, and still manage to be both overwhelmed, and spend way more than I intended. And a book sale? I am completely sunk!!
Six months ago I moved, and I managed to give away a bunch of books, some well loved and read so often as to have been somewhat memorized, (excrutiating) others one shot novelties, that were quick reads, amusing, but I likely wouldn't re-read. I felt like I was giving up on valued friends, but I needed to downsize. Still, I have what could be construed as too many books. Not by me, of course, for me, the obvious solution is that I need a library. A room devoted to bookshelves bursting with books in all their glorious colors, shapes, sizes and content, good lighting, comfy chairs, couches, pillows- pure heaven.
In the meantime, I managed to unearth a significant portion of my "important" books today. Resources and references for the life I am creating; gardening, farming, plants, medicinal herbs, a few cookbooks. I still haven't found my treasured "The Veggie Queen" cook book by Jill Nussinow, must find that tomorrow. (Also, note to self, must learn how to do that neato hyperlink in body of blog thingie.)
It is simply amazing how much better I feel after finding my books, relieved, less anxious, more grounded. Like I am finally moving in to this house. Also, I realize that I need several more bookshelves. At least. For now, I can continue researching my plant lists for the permaculture design project due the end of February, and catch up on some fun reading as well. So I add this to my new year resolution: I will make time to read more, and continue to downsize. I will clean, organize, and get rid of unused items, ruthlessly. I am tired of the clutter and chaos. This year, I will organize and downsize to the point that I will be able to find things when I am looking for them. ( A novel concept in my household.) I will do something every day toward this end, even if it is something small, like throwing out unneeded paperwork.
Happiness Project
As I manifest the farmhouse of my dreams, I add library, seed saving room and root cellar to my list. This year I will begin a savings account just for the farm, and I will meet with the rep from my credit union to find out exactly what I need to do to buy my farm.
I am excited and hopeful for this new year, it feels like my moment, full of promise, and dreams coming to fruition. I am so looking forward to my future.

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