To the Lighthouse...

So far, finding the novels to read next has been half the fun. As I've mentioned, I just moved to a new city. While on an unrelated errand, I stumbled upon the local bookstore. Wandering the shelves, I came upon a title on my list, Virginia Woolf's classic novel, "Into the Lighthouse."

I opened the brown paper bag and proudly readied it on my nightstand, willing it to be read. But, two weeks later, I'm still only on page 50.  The prose is gorgeous... It immediately feels different than the books I've read in recent years. However, somehow, I'm struggling to get through it.

I finally contemplated why that is. It somehow reminds me more of poetry. It's indulgent! With how busy my mind has been on work and moving and everything else in life, it's been too much of a challenge for me to quiet my mind enough to appreciate all the context.

I'm not sure how I'll solve for this, but now that I understand the issue...

What I learned from 1984...

I loved 1984. It was easy to understand what all the hype around George Orwell's almost 70 year old novel was about. The story was dark and cautionary; but filled with just enough hope for a better world. It was also interesting to see how it had influenced modern dystopian literature (which I'm such a fan of). There are numerous articles that draw parallels between 1984 and the today's supped up reality, so I won't go into it here. However, I really enjoyed the article written by the The New York Times, "Why '1984' Is a 2017 Must Read" and the parallel's made to the recent presidential inauguration. Hmmm...food for thought...


So, the book was great... But, it took me a while to figure out what lesson I'd gleaned from it. At first, I was a little disappointed that it had served only as entertainment. But then...some days later...I was sitting on the subway when I saw the billboard for an art festival in my up and coming neighborhood. And, it hit me then. I had wanted to attend the art festival, but had decided to work on decorating my new house that weekend instead. I knew it then. The lesson was to get off the train...Stop focusing on making the machine move forward and, instead, stop and enjoy the beauty and art around me. Be human.

So, I decided to find time to explore and wonder at the art instead of checking things off my to do list. And, my heart thanked me for it. Setting up my Alexa could wait for another weekend.