Hello, so, life has been busy and hard lately. School, papers, and a writing job I picked up with the East Tennessean are all coming at me full force. Last week, I spent more time stressing about how many hours of sleep it was possible to get than I spent actually sleeping.
That being said, I haven’t been able to exactly plan out reading time. But, all in the month of March, I did check out from the library and start Wild Palms by Faulkner, I started a book club book (which I probably am never going to finish), and I started AND finished a wonderful book titled Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh (loved this one).
So… for the month, I probably spent about 10 total hours reading books for outside of class. And that’s slightly pathetic compared to what I really want from myself.
I wish I could say that I’m going to be able to read for 4 hours (or more) every week during the month of April, but I have so much reading, writing, and other stuff to do for school, I’m not sure if its possible… But I am going to try.
It shouldn’t be this hard, but I am putting in the time and the hours that I’m supposed to. And I still am improving from it. I’ve been writing a lot. And now, since reading Eileen, I’m kind of planning out writing my own book. About 2 months ago, that would have seemed like too daunting of a task for me and something I would never do, so the fact that I feel a strong urge to do it now is exciting.
I’ve watched a lot of movies, about 7 just in this month, so that’s one goal I’m really staying on top of. I know what you’re thinking– ‘if you can watch so many movies, then why don’t you spend that same amount of time reading a book so that you can say you achieved your goal?’– Good point. And I feel the same way. But sometimes, the brain is tired and the mind needs rest. The visual senses demand for the need for beautiful aesthetic experiences to be satisfied– so I watch a movie.
I’m trying to be cultured, and I’m succeeding by some means more than others, but at least I spend more time doing positive intellectual things than I used to. And I’m growing from it.
Overall, I’m building up to the point I want to be at: the point in my life when I spend more time with my nose in a book or tracing my thoughts on paper than I spend staring into the horrid light of my phone screen or laying around, thinking about how much of a disappointment I am to the higher, intellectual version of myself that is just waiting for me to let her thrive.
I think I’m doing good, though, because I know I’m doing the most that I can and I can feel that it’s doing good for me.
Also, I picked up running again, and that’s always a sign that you’re doing good with your life, right?
THINKING CLAIRE-LY 