Escapism

I need to escape.  There were so many horrible things reported in our country over the past week I just need to escape.  I cannot take anymore.  Between the never-ending news reports and the never-ending commentary on social media – it is just too much.  I need to turn it off. 

I already don’t have cable so lately I’ve been escaping by watching movies.  Hours and hours of movies.  The only problem with that is it’s difficult for me not to simultaneously engage in hours of mindless snacking while watching these hours of movies.  Plus, I always feel like a lazy slug after getting up off the couch after a movie binge.

Today, I got up early and had my morning devotions and did a live broadcast on FB.  Then I worked in my yard for the better part of an hour.  I cut the grass, did some edging and swept the clippings.  I had a magnificent breakfast of scrambled egg whites with spinach, four slices of turkey bacon, and oatmeal with blueberries.  Then I went for a 3-mile run/walk. 

At this point it was still only 11:30 am and even though I was exhausted and probably deserved a break I did not want to post up on that sofa.  I did not want to look at any social media.  I wanted to escape the darkness.  So I decided to find a book and get cozy on my back patio and read.

I love reading and somewhere along the line I forgot how awesome reading for pleasure can actually be.  I grabbed this one off my shelf:.

This author is amazing and I love this book.  Coincidentally, it’s about how the author used books to escape the grief of her sister’s death.  In fact, she read one book a day every day for one year and wrote a review of each book the very next day.  Can you imagine?  A book a day for 365 days! 

Reading a good book always makes me feel fantastic.  It’s a feeling that I never get from seeing a good movie.  Not sure why that is.  Reading provides the exact escape that I was looking for.  I’m not ignoring what is happening in the world.  Hell, I couldn’t do that if I wanted to but for a little while my mind can be on something else.  Something that makes me smile.

I’m 100 pages in and I plan to finish this book before I put head to pillow tonight.  I know that I couldn’t read 365 books in a year (however, the author had a husband and 4 children and did it) but I know I can read something every day for 365 days – I think I’ll start there.