I have so many favourite things -- including but not limited to empty journals, chocolate, my little pin dish, my potato scrubber, reading, nature, the colour cobalt blue, the colour indigo, the colour mauve, (okay I'll stop with the colours now but may I just point out how many awesome colours are in the blue/purple families?), dollhouse furniture, my dishwasher, crafting, blogging, folding laundry (yes, really), spring, fall, and kind people. And chocolate. And reading.
Chocolate and reading needed to be mentioned twice.
But while I like to eat chocolate, I can't say I really enjoy seeing it unless I can also eat it, and I can't even start to figure out how to do it. Unless do means make, and that sounds like a lot of work when I can just buy a nice bar of Swiss chocolate for $2.49.
That leaves reading.
I don't even remember learning to read. I just remember reading, from an early age. My older brother recently claimed the credit for teaching me, and since I can't refute his claim, I'll accept that as a true-ish version of events. Our mother read to both of us a great deal when we were little, and I'm sure that also helped me to be an early and competent reader.
I think that the most important skill a person, especially a child, can acquire is the ability to read, because it makes everything else in life so much more accessible. If you can read, you can teach yourself anything. You can make sense of the world. You can learn things that other people have already figured out, so that you are not re-inventing the wheel. You can build on ideas to come up with new ideas. You can experience things through reading that you might not have the means or opportunity to experience first-hand.
I have the feeling I'm preaching to the choir here, so let's just forge ahead and get to the poem now.
*****
Reading Is . . .
My escape, at the end of a long, monotonous, work-filled day.
My therapy, when life's pressures threaten to take my breath away.
My entertainment, when I have "me" time to spend.
My teacher, for there are things to learn without end.
My comfort, when I am sad or anxious or hurt.
. . . And my downfall, when I should be doing housework . . .
 |
Sarcastic kitty is just jealous of your bond with your book. |
(Image courtesy of icanhas.cheezburger.ca)
*****
Thank you all for your helpful comments on last Friday's post about journals. I plan to do an update on that topic this coming Friday. You gave me a lot to think about!
*****
What is YOUR favourite thing to see or do?
I am definitely a paid-up member of that choir. I read every day. And frequently neglect things which 'should' be done to do so. With very little guilt.
ReplyDeleteA woman I worked with had a stroke and lost the ability to read (and the ability to relearn the skill). I grieved for her. I still do.
How awful to lose the ability to read ... that is very sad. I don't know if audio books would be helpful? I know they wouldn't be the same as reading for oneself.
DeleteI have to confess I don't have TOO much guilt about not doing housework. Just enough to make me do it now and then.
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL poem straight from heart and so easy to relate!
ReplyDeleteto be honest i don't find time for readings now a days as wheni am free for while ,it is not as long and energetic to read with true meaning of reading so i don not pic up a book though i want to and something keep poking me dto do so but i know it won't be enough .
i feel my self lucky that my past was all about reading and today if i have little knowledge or comprehension about the life and world is due to my readings of that time .
i am sure time will come again to make me read again someday .
thank you for such delightful and amazing poetry dear Jenny!!!
Thank you, baili. There have been times in my life when reading (as you put it, "with true meaning of reading") had to be put on hold, times when I was busy with children and then again after my father had his stroke. You will have time again when your children are all grown and away from home, I think. I hope so, anyway.
DeleteI love the kitty telling us it's the same 26 letters, that would be a good bookmark.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite things are reading sleeping and eating. I used to love to cook, but not now, I hate this electric stove. I'd rather cook with gas, or not at all.
It would be a great bookmark, you're right!
DeleteAre you sure you weren't a cat in a former life? A very literate cat, but still . . . Actually, I love those three things too . . .
a lot ...but special like reading, writing,and making objects with ribbon and lace. Have a nice day,Joan
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Joan! Thank you for reading. I like making things, too :)
DeleteReading opens the world. Love a book, the lit fireplace and a cup of tea or coffee. All is well with the world when I can escape into a great book.
ReplyDeleteBook club is my second favourite. A group of readers discussing a piece of literature, what could be more fun?
Except the grandkids, of course!
I like your statement that reading opens the world - that's a great way to put it.
DeleteSurprisingly, book club has never appealed to me. I like to read but I don't like to discuss, except rarely with my husband. I feel very un-academic saying that, but it's the truth so I might as well admit to it :)
Grandkids are fun, too :)
Hello Jenny, this is my third attempt at commenting today. Nothing to do with your computer or mine, I'm just not in a comfortble position right now, so accidentally, somehow, keep deleting what I've written.
ReplyDeleteI like cobalt blue too and most darkish, vibrant colours. I even like colours that clash with others eg red and orange together, anything that shouts 'Colour'. My favourite things to do are genealogy (although I don't seem to do much of it lately), reading, especially thrillers and craftwork mainly knitting. Nature and all natural things are also high on my list.
Anyway on to the poem I threatened, (only joking) you with on Friday.
Stationery
I have this little problem,
Of which there is no cure.
Left to my own devices,
I would buy more and more and more.
You can't stop me buying
The items for which I crave.
It is a little weakness,
That makes me spend not save.
There's no end to my obsession,
I always buy more than I need.
I'll never use my stock up,
It grows and grows like a weed.
They don't have to be pretty and useless,
Practical and plain are just fine.
Catching my eye is the first step,
After that, they're mine all mine.
Notebooks, paper and envelopes,
Blank notecards, stickers and glue,
Are all the materials I will need,
To send my greetings to you.
So if you think I'm a little obsessive,
Of stationery, papers and pens.
Just bear in mind, I like to share
My passion with family and friends.
Can't wait for your post next Friday. Take care and have a good week.
Joan (Devon)
"They're mine all mine" made me chuckle - that's exactly how I feel about all of my paper, no matter what form it comes in! ha ha
DeleteThank you for bringing your poem along today, Joan. I hope you have a lower pain week ahead.
I'm a crazy lady in a stationary store. I just want EVERYTHING!!!
DeleteI think being read to as a child makes the biggest difference in learning to be a reader. If the people around you read, and you learn the value of the written word and the magic it can contain at an early age, well, you're 3/4 of the way there!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I love the initiatives that are around these days to send books home from the hospital with new babies, and reading challenges in elementary school, with books as prizes. Anything to encourage an early love of reading.
DeleteYou're right on with your reading comments. Many little kids come to school knowing how to read and then teachers like me take credit for teaching them to read. My son could read before he went to school. he picked it up from Sesame street and another program. You're also right on with the value of reading. This is a great post to wake up to on a Monday morning.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Red - it's no surprise that a former teacher would feel like this about reading! I always thought Sesame Street was excellent TV for pre-schoolers and early elementary - I imagine there were a lot of kids who didn't have reading in the home but learned a lot from that program.
DeleteAlso, I love that potato scrubber! LOL!
ReplyDeleteIt's a riot, isn't it? lol
DeleteA good story can take us away from our own troubles, a great story can open us up to new possibilities.
ReplyDeleteI love planting seeds as then I have hope for tomorrow. I am going to be planting a lot more this year.
That is a great summary of the value of reading; so true.
DeleteI hope you get to plant soon. Your comment last week that you'd move the snow aside if necessary to get at your garden made me laugh :)
This is great..and so true....and, sarcastic kitty has a point lol.
ReplyDeleteHe or she does :) It's kind of amazing when you really think about it.
DeleteLearning to read at age four was the single luckiest thing I ever did. And I did it out of jealousy, when my sister got a little bookcase full of Nancy Drew mysteries for her birthday, and I found that I couldn't read them.
ReplyDeleteMy mother bought me a little metal whiteboard with a set of magnetic, plastic letters, and I thanked her with endless questions about this word and that word, and before I knew it, I was reading "The Mystery of the 99 Steps"...
The Little Brown Bird Brigade have been notified that it is, in fact, spring. This morning they were as loud as the neighbor's dog...
-Doug in Oakland
What a great story about learning to read! It's so neat that you can remember it, too. I wish I could remember learning!
DeleteHooray for the LBBB - spring chirping is sweet music to the ears of those who have just undergone winter :)
Great post. I've forsaken streaming Netflix for streaming audiobooks from my library system and enjoy that as well as reading. Being read to as a kid made a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you can stream audiobooks from the library - excellent alternative.
DeleteHi Jenny, I love to see old photographs and am amazed at how good they are. To think that there was somebody going through the same stuff as me with my photography, years ago, makes you think.
ReplyDeleteIt really does make a person think, you're right. They did a wonderful job with much less advanced equipment than people use these days.
DeleteKitty may be sarcastic but kitty is also smart. I never thought of looking at it that way!
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly preaching to the choir with me. I LOVE reading. And I also don't remember when I first started. All I know is that I've been remember for what seems like forever. And I don't plan on quitting any time soon!
I still can't get over that potato scrubber. It is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
And that combination is one reason we love our kitties! ha ha
DeleteHere's hoping we retain our vision and our comprehension skills for a long time to come! Because we're gonna be cranky if we can't read :)
That scrubber cracks me up. Still. And I've had it for years.
Music is my favourite thing. Playing it, buying it, looking at it, especially my old vinyl. I love how music moves people at my gigs. The memories etc. I couldn't go a day without listening to it.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I read a book is on holiday, and then I enjoy it, as long as it's non fiction.
It's fascinating how our brains are all wired differently. Your comment reminds me of our son. Music is an extremely powerful force for him as well. I envy both of you for having that depth of feeling about it.
DeleteReading is definitely in a tie for writing!
ReplyDeleteGoing now to see some of these past posts. I'm so far behind . . .
Writing seems harder to me - you have to figure out HOW to rearrange those 26 letters again and again :)
DeleteFAVOURITE THINGS
ReplyDeleteFood on the table
And peace on the Earth
Dignity in death and promise at birth
Being ready to face all that life brings
These are a few of my favourite things
Leaders with vision who tackle division
Truthful news stories on my television
Hopes that travel on love’s tender wings
These are a few of my favourite things
When the guns fire
When the phone rings
When I’m feeling small
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I feel ten feet tall
The theme reminded me of "The Sound Of Music" too, YP - I do like your version. I had just gotten the tune out of my head and bam! it's back :)
DeleteThose are all excellent favourite things. Some of them seem so far out of reach, but we must keep trying.
i think my very favorite thing to do is to spend time with my immediate family. i feel most whole at such times.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful answer.
DeleteI love your poem! Reading is as natural and necessary to me as breathing. Elephant Child's story of the woman who lost the ability to read strikes sympathetic horror into my heart.
ReplyDeleteBut I'd have to say that my favourite thing of all time is eating. If I'm ever wavering on the edge of declining a social event, the surest way to convince me to go is to utter one simple phrase, "But the food will be great!" :-)
Hah! I like eating also . . . but I try not to think about it, much less write about it, lest I make things worse for myself :)
DeleteBut I've been known to decide about a social event in the same manner :D
Late to the party as usual, but yes, I love to read. I like to be mentally somewhere else on a regular basis. It's like an out of body experience if done right.
ReplyDeleteI believe I know what you mean - I get that with some books, and also if I look at old pictures for any length of time. It feels weird coming back to the present.
DeleteMy favourite things
ReplyDeleteThis week I've been knitting socks and next week might be painting rocks
I've tried my hand at quilting and sewing but come the summer the lawn'l need mowing
The flowers will need to be watered and fed and crafting for hours I'll do in the shed
I've pieces to carve and cards to make and maybe I'll even find time to bake
The beads and findings overflow from my stash and the mind boggles at how just how much cash...I have spent on the crafts that fill me with pleasure and all of the things sent by others I'll treasure...
So favourite things.... well that changes each week but You Tube's the place if inspiration I seek
If my mojo is lacking and nothing appeals I might just knit socks with bright coloured heels...
Well done! Crafting is one favourite thing that has many favourite sub-things contained in it :) I understand that!
Delete