In the Library

The library was a place where we checked out books when I was growing up. It was a place of adventure and espionage, learning and the ability to do or be anything I wanted…if only on the pages of a book. As an adult we inherited most of the family books and have created a library in our house. It’s a great place for peace and quiet, reading, solitude, and napping.

I sometimes take it for granted that everyone loves books. I assume everyone reads and has had amazing adventures while glued to the pages of a classic. As I travel and meet people, I understand that my thoughts and assumptions are not true. Not everyone reads, and not every values the pages in a book. Too many people watch tv and never open a book, electronic or the paper version. They see ‘movies’ about books and have no desire to read the real story. They miss the ability to exercise their imaginations and create in their own mind the pictures a good book helps create.

I also realize that some people do not have a place of peace and rest. There is no quiet in their world. They have no where to go to be quiet and escape from their own reality. Most people have the tv going, or are attached to their electronic devices, or blare away silence with noise or music or anything else to remove dead air. What is it about silence that makes people nervous? Maybe it is because silence requires us to do something other than be distracted.

Reading and silence and being with ourselves means facing reality, even if we do not like our current reality. Growing up we went to the library to check out books and read in silence, and discover a different reality. So somewhere between reading and the library we have a chance to know something different, or learn about ourselves.

I hope you have a quiet place to read, learn, and fend off the realities of your world. Give your brain and your soul a break. Go to the library, pick up a good book, sit in silence and read. Your mind and heart will thank you.