I don’t have much time to sit and read anymore, and it makes me sad. I take months to get through a book because my only reading time is about 25 min total each weekday.
I’m still a reader at heart. Which is why Flea’s entry struck a chord with me. I feel her shock, her horror, her realization that cute does not equal desirable if there’s nothing behind it.
I feel samsara wind it’s tentacles around me more and more tightly when I don’t read. Really. I find I am far more inclined to sit when I’m reading Dharma texts. Hand me the Jewel Ornament of Liberation and I’m struck with devotion.
Like Flea, I hardly remember a time when I didn’t know how to read. In fact, I remember the first time I climbed up on the couch to read a book to my mother. I was in pre-school, about three years old I think. I remember making a mistake which I’d earlier heard my brother make. I was disappointed in myself for not remembering there would be a difficult word in that part of the story and slowing down to be sure I read it correctly. The book was about a dog who stole a bunch of sausages from a butcher; it had come from Migo’s school so we didn’t get to keep it.
I know this is the first time I read to my mom because she told me so years later. Her side of the story is that I was sitting behind the couch (which was in the middle of the room) playing with my People and appearing to be completely in my own world. When Migo finished reading and ran off to do whatever, I climbed up and told her I was going to read the book now. She figured I would make up some story by looking at the pictures–instead I read every word. She was blown away.
Years later, somewhere in 4th grade, I asked my Dad to take me to the bookstore because I didn’t have anything to read. He thought I was nuts. I had two floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves in my bedroom which were full of books. I told him I’d read them all and he marched me back to my room and pulled a random book off the shelf. I told him the plot. He tried another and another and I knew every book he pulled out. He’s still a bit amazed that I had not only read every book but could tell him the whole story in detail! He says he still didn’t take me to buy new books because he couldn’t afford my reading habit.