make room for pleasure
I have a pretty extensive library of books—more books than I care to admit. The majority of the books are “business” books, and very few would be considered pleasure reading. I mean, I enjoy reading them, but most people don’t find finance, spirituality, mindset, religion, and other books that have helped me develop my understanding of the Authentic Life.
I wanted to start a book that was purely for pleasure this holiday weekend.
There wasn’t anything in my library that fit what I was looking for, which made me realize that I need to take more time for pleasure. Even though I enjoy reading the books I normally buy, I still read them with the goal of understanding or learning something new. Sometimes it’s good to read just to be entertained and not to think beyond getting wrapped up in the story.
So I purchased Recursion by Blake Crouch for my Kindle—I’m a physical-book guy, but I wanted to read while floating in the pool, so a physical book wasn’t going to work this time. I’ve read Dark Matter by Crouch in just one day, so I felt confident I’d like this book as well.
I made a great decision.
But even with a purchase made specifically for pleasure, I couldn’t help but see Authentic Life content in it early in the book.
“Time is an illusion, a construct made out of human memory. There’s no such thing as the past, the present, or the future. It’s all happening now.”
“’I think balance is for people who don’t know why they’re here.’ She considers that. In high school, in college, she was encouraged again and again to find her passion—a reason to get out of bed and breathe. In her experience, few people ever found that raison d’etre. What teachers and professors never told her was about the dark side of finding your purpose. The part where it consumes you. Where it becomes a destroyer of relationships and happiness. And still, she wouldn’t trade it. This is the only person she knows how to be.”
The reminders of the Authentic Life don’t take away from the pleasure of reading Recursion because I’m not looking for these types of passages. I’m not hoping to gain any clarity from reading—just a break from learning and growing.
I’m glad I used this holiday weekend to focus on pleasure first. It has been a nice break from my normal reading, and it’ll extend a few more days as I anticipate a quick read of the book because it’s hard to put down.
I consider my Self lucky that everything I consume to learn and grow professionally happens to be information I enjoy reading about—there is a pleasure component to it. But the pleasure is secondary to the learning. I need to remind my Self to take make more time for reading (or listening or watching) for pleasure first.
When was the last time you read/listened to/watched purely for pleasure?
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
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