If you’re a reader, you are about to read a blog post which will echo through the pits of your soul. It’s not a problem, we all know this. But whenever us readers are faced with this sort of conundrum, there is definite…friction would be the best way to put it, in my mind.
Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for a while will already know that I am blowing this issue (the one I’m about to tell you about) up to be something it absolutely is not, creating drama where none is needed, creating blockage when there probably is a clear path that I just can’t see yet.
But the thing is: this feels big. Like a pickle. And when something feels like a pickle to me, I will set my brain to work until it has come up with a logical solution that will bring me peace and clarity and a bin (you know, a bin to throw the pickle into.)
What is the pickle, you ask? Books, that’s what. I’ve started reading three books that are wonderful…and I’ve started them all at the same time. The pickle is this, and the pickle is also the fact that I’ll not finish any of them at this rate.
I won’t go into the details about each book but I will say that each is illuminating, genuine, inspiring, and each has a very clear reason to be read by a bookish dreamer named Brooke at this point in her life.
So.
How do I choose which one to plow on with? Surely it’s an essential question, like asking myself: should I brush my teeth, have a shower, sleep, eat? You’re laughing aren’t you. You’re laughing because you’ve been here before, but currently you’re not so it’s kind of like you’re looking back upon a distant nightmare set in a far-off land.
But for me, it’s here. It’s now. And I’ve got to DO something, I’ve got to get TOUGH.
I’ve got to put two of the books away. When it comes down to it, that’s just what I’ve got to do, isn’t it? One at a time. I will not find un-friction until I make a choice, and the time has come for me to make it—to choose the apple, the orange or the pear.
What a bookishly frantic conundrum. What a pickle of the totally me kind.
brooke-cutler.com 
9 replies on “It’s Not A Problem”
Yes… I was laughing. I totally relate to this. I think I am in the middle of 4 or 5 books most of which are from the library, so there is natural process where I am forced to return them whether I finish or not. The nice thing about this is the choice to renew the book and carry on or to return the book to come back to one day or never again.
Being in this predicament myself, I am finding that there are some good books that have helpful tidbits and stir my interests and then there are books that I NEED. It could be something creative like a novel that I can’t pit down. Or it could be a self-help type book that speaks exactly to where I find myself that I relate to in every way.
I find that when you NEED to read a book you do read it. If it is good, but it isn’t supplying you “life-giving oxygen,” to be completely hyperbolic, the time constraint usually decides for you, which to pursue and which to move on. Sometimes that book becomes that life-giving book in another season or at a later time.
Hope my babbling was helpful. Hang in there 😉
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THIS could possibly be the BEST, most spot on comment ever! lol. You’re totally right. The universe has a way of getting it right in the end, I’m a big believer in that. One of the books I’m stuck on is a library book, and I do actually think it’s already taught me a thing or two, so you never know…maybe those two things were the only things I needed from that book. 😛 Thanks for this perspective, Jason. Your blabbing was absolutely BRILLIANT! 🙂
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Yay! You’re welcome 😁
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I relate to this discussion quite a bit. There are books that teach me new things and broaden my world in fantastic ways. They always get first priority. But sometimes, the broadening is good rather than fantastic and the points are helpful but not mindboggling so. They may, begin to go off in a new direction into territory I already know or that does not interest me in the least. That’s when I thank them for serving their purpose, then let them go. I no longer feel that I absolutely must finish every book I read. I just have to read as long as it interests me or helps me. Then I can let it go.
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How brilliant! It really is such a wonderful discussion to have come up from this post, I couldn’t be happier. That’s a really mindful approach to reading, you have, and it’s so wonderful you are able to use your discernment to choose what is right for you and when. Such an empowered way to live, and so refreshing to hear! We really do have the choice to manipulate our circumstances in the ways most beneficial to us, even down to the books we engage with. Love your perspective. Thanks so much for sharing it! xx
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I once lived in that pickle for years. It was crazy and glorious and I loved it. Then again, my brain was younger then and just soaked everything up. One book in the morning, another in the afternoon, and a third at night. These days, with kids eating my brain cells for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I’d be hopelessly lost doing that, so I ask my heart “which book speaks to you?”
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Oh, Kat! This comment made me laugh and warmed my heart at the same time! It’s not a surprise to me at ALL that you would get yourself into such a pickle! Ha ha ha. I absolutely ADORE your new method of choosing ‘the one. 💕💕💕😘
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I tend to get half-way through one book, forget I’m reading it, then start another book, get half way through that one, then forget I’m reading it, then start another – and so on. Then I go back to the book I’m halfway through, forget what happened, and have to start it over. You can see how this ends up with me never finishing any of them.
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Ha ha ha 🙂 Your life sounds like an episode of ‘Bottom’, Jonathan. You’re obviously quite quick to get the memo from the universe, then. It’s like you get to the book’s sweet spot and your subconscious says, ‘Right. I’ve read the part I was meant to read. NEXT!’ 😉☺️
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