Reading Week

The week before Christmas was a bust, but the week after was perfectly lovely.  My kids were occupied for hours at a time playing Just Dance on the Wii, so I got to snuggle on the couch and catch up on my reading.

I love to read.  When I have a book on the go, I feel like I’ve always got something to look forward to.

My favourite genres are historical fiction and Christian romance, but at Christmastime I love short stories like A Stranger For Christmas by Carol Lynn Pearson and Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright.

Lately I’ve been savouring Richard Paul Evans work, including his latest series – The Walk.  Last year The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows impressed me.

I prefer books that uplift and inspire.  I need to be a little more informed, happier, wiser, or motivated after reading a book.  If they don’t meet my criteria I feel cheated, so I’m also very picky about what I recommend to others.

For me, it’s not enough to be a page-turner.  I don’t like feeling disturbed or scared, but I guess some people do.  This past Fall I was dismayed to see some of the titles listed on the order forms that came home from the school.  It made me wonder if we’re putting literacy and the ability to read above the quality of what’s going into our heads.  I believe the books we read contribute to shaping our characters and identities, for better or for worse.  And once it’s in, it’s there to stay.

As a youth, a teacher shared the following quote with me:  “Some books are meant to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested” (Francis Bacon).  I agree.

Aha Moments

Last week I wrote about Duh Moments, but I much prefer Aha Moments - moments of clarity, inspiration, and understanding.  Aha! I get it.  Aha! I know what to do.  Aha! I am wiser as of this moment.

Some Aha Moments are too personal to share in an article like this (no offence – if you’ve had them you know what I mean).  Some are profound and life-changing.  Others are like insightful splotches of light on the sometimes foggy path of life.

I experienced an unusual Aha Moment in high school when I was having trouble in math.  I studied and worked at it, but the light bulb remained off.  So I went to bed.  While sleeping, I dreamed of the concept I was having difficulty with.  In my dream the math made perfect sense, and when I awoke the clarity remained.  Aha! I could do it.

Most of my Aha Moments follow a pattern:  After serious thought, study, and contemplation, the ‘bing!’ comes suddenly during a quiet moment when my mind is relaxed – often while doing dishes, taking a bath, lying in bed just before or after sleep, or while enjoying the tranquility of nature.

Unfortunately, we live in a very noisy and busy world – conditions that are not conducive to regular Aha Moments.  Music, information, and electronic blips and bleeps come at us from every angle, requiring us to make a concerted effort to turn off these distractions if we want to think properly.

To be tossed on the winds of media and popular opinion is a frightening thing.  We need those grounding, directional Aha Moments.  Regularly.  So let’s turn off the iPhones, find someplace quiet, and take time to ponder the questions of our hearts.  If we listen, the answers will come.  Aha!