Live and learn.

Hello!

It's nice to be back, even on a Monday. I can't say that I really "enjoyed" my staycation, but I will say this: I learned a few things. Mostly things I could have done without learning, but there you have it. Perhaps the most valuable lesson I picked up, once again, is that things could always be worse, and I should be thankful and grateful and all sorts of -fuls for what I've got. And I am.

Here's another, slightly more-pertinent-to-the-point-of-this-blog thing that I learned: anyone who thinks reading is not really a physical activity should think again. A couple of weeks ago I had surgery, and it kicked my ass. (No worries--I'm on the road to recovery.) I had laid in a pile of novels and DVDs, thinking post-surgery would be a fantastic time to read. I couldn't have been more wrong about that. I watched the DVDs, and must admit that I have warm feelings for the idiot box this week, as it's been a lovely mindless diversion. I've watched a lot more TV this week than I've read, I'm ashamed to admit.

For one thing, I never realized how much I set my books on my tummy while I read. With incisions where I normally rest book spines, I've certainly been thrown out of my physical reading routine. Also: the physical restlessness and antsiness of bodily recovery doesn't readily lend itself to wanting to read, I've found. Why is that? I think it may at least be partially what reading demands: some level of involvement, some mental work on putting the words together and, beyond the words, the greater meaning of the stories the words tell. That, I think, is at least partially the glory of reading. It gives, but it also demands. It is participatory, even when you think it's not. This is also the challenge of reading. And why I worry about its future: in the midst of struggles, it's somewhat hard to find the will to read. To learn. To be engaged. And I worry that we all face more struggles in the near future.

Uh oh. They tell me a positive attitude is imperative to healing, and that last sentence did not sound very positive. I'd better get to work on that.

Comments

[Brandon]

No positivity.

Absolutely not. Does not compute. Have you seen the news? Bad news alll around. There is only sorrow and people squeezing the bridges of their noses as they watch their stocks tumble.

Rejoice! A quick recovery you shall have!

[Tripp]

I hope you are feeling better. Surgery is no fun.

[Citizen Reader]

Brandon, buddy,
I know. It hurts me to be positive. I also wonder about the value of enforced positivity simply because you fear the consequences of negativity.

You're right. Tough week to be positive, all around. On the bright side, think of all the bitching we'll get to do for the rest of our lives, because I get the feeling pretty soon we'll get to live through our own Depression. I know old people who are still trading on that--maybe that can be us in fifty years!

Thanks, Tripp:
I hear that. When I think of whole hospitals out there today, full of people having NO FUN, I think, I may still be sore. But god, to be home is already a million times better than that, I'm lucky. See? There's some natural positivity.

[Roberta]

Cara, glad you're home and watching silly TV - that's what it's for. And honestly, anyone who reads as much as you do need never be ashamed of a few hours of TV. Years ago I had surgery and found I couldn't read either. Pain and fatigue and boredom are not conducive to using your imagination. Episodes of Buffy that I had seen fifty times were just the thing.

Feel better, dear!

[The Laundress]

Hooray, glad to hear you are back to blogging.

Television viewing is a mighty fine recovery tool and yep, troubled times means much of America is logging many hours Dancing with the Stars. Way more healthy than watching debate.

Maybe you haven't yet read buzzy news about reading as a slimming activity for tweens? Maybe this doesn't apply to adults though, or I would be thin as a wafer and you would be some sort of negative energy field with no corporeal presence?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/10/a-new-way-for-t.html

Glad to hear you are on the mend!

[Citizen Reader]

Roberta, cara mia!
I've been watching Buffy too! Oh my dear, we were meant to be together. I've also been knocking back the Remington Steeles like nobody's business. Ah, 80s TV, the good old days. I may do Moonlighting next! I wasn't so much ashamed of watching TV as I was surprised how little I felt like reading--which was disconcerting because reading is pretty much my only hobby. You're right about the fatigue though--which again, leads me to believe that reading is just a little bit physical. Or more physical than TV, anyway.

Laundress!
Have you seen Warren Sapp on Dancing with the Stars? That big man is surprisingly skilled. I never watched it before but I've been sucked in now....

And thank you for the article. VERY interesting! See, reading should be thrown in there as a good physical activity too, not just mental.

Glad to be on the mend--I think maybe because two very sweet ladies sent me some gorgeous healing fruit? Hmm?? I'm going to go have some healing strawberries right now! Yum.

[Katharine]

yeah! you're back. I am glad to hear that your recovery is going well, I was worried about you CR. Glad that Mr. CR is taking good care of you, rest up and get better we need your reading insight! I totally agree with you that reading demands of you, it is much easier to zone out with an episode of "the hills" when I am not feeling well. As for the true crime genre, it's all my little sister reads. Maybe reading about someone's cruddy luck makes your life seem not so bad? I think that is why she reads them and she likes gory horror movies too, so I think she likes the gross out parts of true crime too. Off to check in holds...(come on you miss them :)...enjoy that comfy purple couch

[Sarah]

This is why I watch more TV than I should - I am often brain-dead after work. This is also why people like light reading, especially when times are tough - it gives them a little escape. It was this way for at least six months after 9/11/01. Hey, I do it too, and if it helps people relax or go to a good place, so that they don't kick the dog or something, it serves a positive societal purpose.

[Citizen Reader]

Katharine!
Glad to be back. Are you going to ask your little sis what she likes about true crime for me? I can certainly understand wanting to feel better or safer about your own life, after all. I say good for your sis.

I'm loving the purple couch, no worries there! Hoping all is well with you, too.

Sarah,
Oh, I hear you. It does give you an excuse to sit around and zone while still "doing something," doesn't it? We all do need a little escape sometimes, that's fer sure.