Good Madness

I’m going to say this and I don’t want anyone to think I value pleasure reading over spending time with my daughter. That is truly not the case. I enjoy every second that passes while we’re together and I wouldn’t trade that for any award winning piece of literature.

BUT.

I do have to say that one thing I miss about pre-child life is the reading. The pleasure reading. Taking an hour (or four) out of your day to relax in bed with a good book. Not to get graphic here but the only time I get to read is in the bathroom and even then it may be a page at most. Last night I stayed up “late”, reading (and by late I mean 11:30pm when I should have gone to bed at 9:00pm) and I’m feeling the burn today. One and a half [small] redbulls later and my heart feels like it’s gonna explode. I’m glad that my current reading obsession (and Michael’s too) is also a TV series, with the new season coming out this spring. But as most you book-lovers know the show/movie is never as good as the book (usually). Watching TV is fun but book reading is just so much more enjoyable. What is it about reading that is so fantastic? It’s more work than watching TV… and it takes longer. Why would anyone like to read?!

I don’t know and I don’t have the time right now to get all psychological and scientific here. But I do know that I want to extend this love for reading onto my daughter. I want to show her how much fun reading can be; so much fun sometimes that it’s sad to close the back cover at the end. We can get so many things from books; things besides entertainment. We can learn about our world and we can learn about ourselves. I’ve picked up a few book-inspired teachings that I want to use in my life, and that I want to impart on Bria.

“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” –The Help by Kathryn Stockett

“You can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.” –The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

“When you’re struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it’s just as hard as what you’re going through.” –The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

“I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.” –Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

“Draw a crazy picture,

Write a nutty poem,

Sing a mumble-gumble song,

Whistle through your comb.

Do a loony-goony dance

‘Cross the kitchen floor,

Put something silly in the world

That ain’t been there before.” –Shel Silverstein

"My skin is kind of sort of brownish pinkish yellowish white. My eyes are greyish blueish green, but I'm told they look orange in the night. My hair is reddish blondish brown, but its silver when its wet, and all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet." –Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

“A mind needs books as a sword needs a wetstone, if it is to keep its edge.” –A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

"First of all," he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around it." –To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“Believing in God is as much like falling in love as it is making a decision. Love is both something that happens to you and something you decide upon.” –Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller

“I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn’t. It’s a chocolate thing.” –Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller

“Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit.” –The Misfits by James Howe

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” –Holes by Louis Sachar

“You can’t let anybody else tell you what your choices are. Sometimes they won’t give you the right choice.” –Stanley Yelnats survival guide to camp green by Louis Sachar