13 May 2011

Writing, Reading, Dreaming...

I recently stumbled across a wonderful article on the Guardian website that inspired me to think about my own reading habits, what they are now and what they used to be, particularly since I've only recently made tentative steps into the blogosphere and consequently bumped up my own reading a fair bit. 


I have a fairly high maintenance office job and work long hours. In the week I often don't get home until at least 7:30 pm,  by the time I have eaten and sat down to relax more often than not it can be almost 9 o'clock.  As a result, apart from the short stint on the bus on my way into the city in the morning I do the majority of my weekday reading in bed, turning it into a bit of a haven for me.  Robert McCrum talks about the world of the bed almost as a kind of twilight zone between this world and the dream-world, where your mind is free to wander and maybe, just maybe, writers and readers can be struck by their most inspired thoughts and feelings.  

During a period of illness earlier on in the year I wrote a couple of posts early in the morning sitting in bed and I must admit that I was rather pleased with the result.  I attributed it at the time to either the complete absence of the trivial rubbish that tends to build up in your head through your day + a little touch of inspiration from my subconscious mind. As for reading, well, it could almost be the warm up to dreaming....Like having a big bubble bath; for me it is my way to relax and therefore goes hand in hand with books (which is why many of them end up with a nice damp finish.)

I force time into my day where I sit down and open a book, one day I strive to have a life that is all about reading and writing ... and perhaps a bit of eating and wine drinking of course...

9 comments:

  1. HERE HERE! You have a lovely, lovely blog. I found you through BB and I can't explain how quickly I followed! It just appealed to me before I even read this post. In the last year, I made a major move to make writing and reading the bulk of my life. BB is a wonderful community and I love the opportunity to find people like you.

    Cheers,
    Ellen
    www.mymotherstuttered.blogspot.com

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  2. PS - the book your reading, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand? What an amazing cover. Do you plan to review it?
    E

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  3. Hi Ellen

    What a wonderful post :-) Thankyou so much. I have taken a look at your great site and returned the compliment (and linked you to Literary Relish) I am really keen to get to know, not only other bloggers who post reviews, but also authors with something original and interesting to say like yourself (I adore your first post explaining the name of your blog btw)

    :-) I am indeed reading Major Pettigrew, have made some headway during this rainy weekend and hope to review it next week. It's a lovely cover isn't it? - I think the coats and hats it looks like a man and a woman intertwined..

    xx Nice to meet you ! xxx

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  4. Reading, writing, eating and wine drinking--I love that plan.

    I think I write best in the morning and bath time is also my favorite time to read. Great minds think alike :0)

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  5. Hi Elisabeth

    I did have a bit of a balancing act going on last night with a glass of red wine and a book I have to admit..it didn't end too badly!

    Do you think you have a clear head in the morning to put your thoughts to paper? After a coffee or two of course..

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  6. I love Klimt! Great pic!

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  7. I plastered my walls with Klimt pics when I was at university :-)
    Anything with ethereal redheads...

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  8. I like your roll of books. They all look very interesting.

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  9. Hi Sharon

    Thanks so much. The best thing about blogging is meeting like-minded people like yourself and, most of all, getting more recommendations on great reads so that I can fill my shelves to bursting!! :-)

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