“There's never enough time to do all the nothing you
want”. ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
The complete lack of blog posts over the past few
months should be a clue as to the state of my life this year. Between an insanely crazy work schedule, a demanding
three year old, a baby who refuses to sleep through the night, trying to spend
some time with my lovely husband, and attempting to maintain some semblance of
physical fitness, I feel as if I haven’t had a spare minute.
Well, if I’m being honest, I have had a FEW spare
minutes this year, but I have chosen to spend them watching Doctor Who. Don’t judge.
Anyway, the point is, this year I have been
seriously missing out on some of my favorite pass times: watching movies,
spending time with friends, going to visit family, and reading. Oh, I miss reading. I’m not going to waste time espousing the
virtues of reading; let’s just say I’m a fan.
Of all of the activities I could choose for “me time”, reading tops the
list as my all-time, number one, forever-and-ever favorite. Unfortunately, this school year, I just
haven’t found enough time to devote to my ever-expanding “to-read” list. Unacceptable.
Thankfully, I have found a solution! I thought back to my grad school days when I
was commuting back and forth every day between home and school. In total, I was spending about 2 hours a day
in the car, and listening to the radio was just not cutting it for me. Enter the audiobook. That year, I must have “read” more than 30
novels by listening to them in the car during my commute. It was wonderful. All that wasted time in the car was now
devoted to an activity that I loved. Every
time I’d finish a book, I’d just pop into the library and check out a new
one. My drive seemed to fly by, and I
actually looked forward to the time I spent in the car.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to remember how
much I loved the audiobooks, especially considering the fact that I am once
again facing a lengthy daily commute. When
I finally stumbled upon that little jewel of a memory, I instantly piloted my
car toward the nearest library and began to remedy my pitiful shortage of the
written word.
Since then, I have devoured audiobook after
audiobook. Some “fluffy” books, a few
books by Jodi Piccoult, and even some books that have been on my list for ages
(like Wicked- REALLY enjoyed that one!).
All in all, being able to immerse myself in literature again has lessened
my stress level, increased my happiness, and greatly improved my daily commute.
This summer, I plan to get down to some serious
real-life, hard copy, curl up with a blanket reading. I have a very long list of books that are
just waiting to be checked off. But for
the next five weeks (five weeks ‘till summer!!!), I will continue my slight
obsession with these little auditory delights, and I would encourage anyone
else who says, “I just don’t have time to read!” to do the same thing.
Happy listening!
