The Third Year of #15Best
As we round on 2021, I had to make a decision about #15best. Yes, I still use 15 minutes every morning to do something to make my life better.
The first year, I read a lot of random books either aimed at giving me a new way of viewing the world or teaching a new skill or enhancing my productivity.
The second year, I started off with a big mystery-reading project with the goal that I would start writing a mystery in the spring. The COVID-19 hit, and my desire to write a book fizzled. I took a detour with a bunch of anti-racism books, and finished with style guides and cookbooks. (Style guides as in AP Style, not style as in clothing fashion or home design.)
What to do with the third year to make this time a little more… cohesive? To stick with a theme and move the needle towards a goal?
I considered using the time to work through a backlog of purchased books. I have A LOT of unread, purchased books, and I thought I could assuage some of the guilt by reading the owned books in the morning and reading library books the rest of the day. I also considered tackling classics that have been on my TBR list for a long time with the idea of plugging cultural holes. I also wondered if I should try to loop back to the mystery project.
But then I realized I didn’t have to move the needle. 2021 isn’t the year to move the needle. In some ways, it’s even harder to create a project right now because… I am depleted. It is enough to get through the day. Enough to get through the week. If I emerge alive from this pandemic, I will have grown as a person because I will understand that I can do things that I didn’t think I could do until I had to do them. Sort of like infertility, no?
So.
For the third year, I’m taking comfort in old favourites. I’m still going to meditate for ten minutes every morning, but I’m following it with 15 minutes of reading books that make me feel good, starting with The Lord of the Rings. I cracked open Fellowship of the Ring a few weeks ago, and I feel good after spending 15 minutes with Frodo. After I finish LOTR, I’ll probably go on to re-read the Narnia books or Louise Fitzhugh books and her new biography by Leslie Brody.
At this time next year, I will be able to say that I spent 6,786 minutes of the pandemic feeling good.
And that’s no small thing.
5 comments
That sounds like a good plan…
This is a really good idea. Really, really good.
In some seasons of life, it’s enough effort just to sustain the good habits and practices we already have in place. I’d say that now is one of those seasons.
I really want to start working through my unread shelf, too, but like you, I have found my motivation to read certain types of books lowered this year. Because over two-thirds of my unread books are non-fiction, I can imagine that it will be a while before I feel motivated to read most of them.
Right now, I am writing my book 2 sentences a day. I want to maintain the habit of writing while keeping in mind we are in survival mode.
That’s a very good thing. Small things become big things over time and with commitment. Almost all progress is made in this way.
You always inspire me to read more. And, like you point out, it’s not the time to feel like you have to move a needle. So like you, I will also be reading more, day by day, in 2021.
Glad you clarified that style point 😉