I've been reading a lot again, recently. It's the only effective "tool" I have to work with, to allow my body time to rest and recover from over-work (which is sort of my compulsive way of dealing with difficult life periods). I need to have a good "story" in the book, plot that is!, character development and vivid details to capture my attention and hold it. I need to connect with or identify with at least one of the characters, some way. TV and movies simply don't engage me the same way, though movies are usually better, depending on the movie.
With my brain currently looking for new solutions to "solve" the lifelong FOO issues that have flared recently, reading also helps feeds the brain new perspectives, inputs, and even my vocabulary for talking about them; coherently. And only fiction will do - because fiction is art imitating life and the author is able to take those flights of fancy and pursue them, that most of us are too pragmatic, practical or simply afraid to pursue because of the risk involved. A lot of you are also readers, I know... so I thought I'd start a thread to talk about books/authors... but also the insights we gain from this kind of reading that can be applied to healing (which is just my predilection for using something for another purpose than it was intended).
How many here are fans of the Jean Auel "Clan of the Cave Bear" series?? I started reading these back when the first came out; I've missed a couple during my only non-reading period... and am now immersed in what is supposed to be the last one. I can relate to epic sagas.... and their mother-worship culture so reminds me of our "amazons" here.
I just finished another novel by Isabel Allende and am so reminded why she is one of my favorite authors. She is fluent in female emotional language... knows all the right nuances, emphasis, and particular cadences regardless of the setting of the novel in place or time... she distills that language down to the "universal" female/mother character. I simply enjoy reading her books for this reason. These are stories that help me appreciate the value of "just being" too. Whoever, whenever, however.
Tom Robbins - I haven't read anything of his in a while. Master of the absurd, he always makes me laugh... so when I need to laugh more, I reach for one his books. Carl Hiasson, too - though his stories have sort of a detective, mystery-thrilled farce to them and always involve the environmental theme of saving Florida from overbuilding, etc.
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Reading is how I survived, I think. From the time I could read I was described as always having my nose in a book. I have learned how to build a house - from reading. I have learned how to negotiate in business - which I applied to how I negotiate my personal boundaries with others, too. I learned about different cultures, philosophy, religion, folktales and myths, science, the earth, the great heros of the world..... and adventure. I have bemoaned the fact that there's absolutely nothing to read about women-over-a-certain age fashion and beauty (some of us grandma's aren't cut out for flour-y aprons and long hair in buns) and even proposed starting a magazine/website with another longtime artist friend. Maybe I'll suggest that to my hairdresser - he's entrepreneurial.
I think I've learned how to be "me" - and how humans beings are (good, bad, indifferent and ideally) - from fiction. And I can't forget the fairy tales... lord, how those came back & shook me up during the Twiggy part of healing!!
