On "Reading for the Delight of It"
It's funny that my last post was about love letters and now I have received two(!) and am feeling very thankful not for the objects that accompanied them (though they are precious and I will treasure them), so much as the sentiment and love that came from the sending. I'll share the second for Monday's post, because I think it lends itself to a writing warm-up. So for now, I want to share Sarah.
Recently, I received a beautiful postcard and a tiny old book from my friend Sarah Corson. We first met years ago at the Vermont College novel-writing retreat and have since seen each other at various SCBWI events, always with a big hug and an update on our writing lives.
I saw Sarah last at the NESCBWI conference in Springfield, MA and she told me about reading SEE YOU AT HARRY'S out loud with her husband, sharing tears together as they took turns reading. This picture I see of them, connected in a moment of sadness, comforted by love, makes me feel so... blessed. Blessed to know them, and blessed to think about this wonderful couple reading and sharing books together. Being moved and changed by the same words, the same stories. Growing together. Couples, we should all be doing this!
What I loved about this little package was the tiny pink notes inside, pointing out the connections we had with Simmons College, (her father was a trustee) as well as a caution: "NB Mildew or mold--Don't let it contaminate your books!"
Of Reading Books is a John Livingston Lowes commencement address given at Simmons College on June 9, 1924. Here is one of my favorite excerpts:
"...I meant to talk for a little while, most informally and most unacademically, about reading--a subject which, partly through our fault, I fear, some of you have come to think of in terms of courses and degrees, but which is infinitely bigger than all that. It is not even scholarship that I shall have in mind. It is simply reading, as men and women have always read, for the delight of it, and for the consequent enriching and enhancement of one's life. I have put delight deliberately first, for the rest, I believe, is contingent upon that. 'In general,' said Geothe once, 'we learn from what we love.' And I propose first of all to exhibit some lovable readers--not a Professor or even a Doctor in the lot, I think--and allow them to speak for themselves. And first, then, reading for the sheer delight of it."
We learn from what we love.
How beautiful and true.
Slow down, Lowes repeats throughout the address 89 years ago. Don't get caught up in the madness, the over-energized push of a success-driven culture. Step away from all that and read. Read for the delight of it. Read to enrich your life. Read to enhance your life.
Remember to learn from what you love.
Thank you Sarah, for this treasure.For the book, the image of a loving couple reading together, and for the reminder to slow down and read for the pure joy of it.
Recently, I received a beautiful postcard and a tiny old book from my friend Sarah Corson. We first met years ago at the Vermont College novel-writing retreat and have since seen each other at various SCBWI events, always with a big hug and an update on our writing lives.
I saw Sarah last at the NESCBWI conference in Springfield, MA and she told me about reading SEE YOU AT HARRY'S out loud with her husband, sharing tears together as they took turns reading. This picture I see of them, connected in a moment of sadness, comforted by love, makes me feel so... blessed. Blessed to know them, and blessed to think about this wonderful couple reading and sharing books together. Being moved and changed by the same words, the same stories. Growing together. Couples, we should all be doing this!
What I loved about this little package was the tiny pink notes inside, pointing out the connections we had with Simmons College, (her father was a trustee) as well as a caution: "NB Mildew or mold--Don't let it contaminate your books!"
Of Reading Books is a John Livingston Lowes commencement address given at Simmons College on June 9, 1924. Here is one of my favorite excerpts:
"...I meant to talk for a little while, most informally and most unacademically, about reading--a subject which, partly through our fault, I fear, some of you have come to think of in terms of courses and degrees, but which is infinitely bigger than all that. It is not even scholarship that I shall have in mind. It is simply reading, as men and women have always read, for the delight of it, and for the consequent enriching and enhancement of one's life. I have put delight deliberately first, for the rest, I believe, is contingent upon that. 'In general,' said Geothe once, 'we learn from what we love.' And I propose first of all to exhibit some lovable readers--not a Professor or even a Doctor in the lot, I think--and allow them to speak for themselves. And first, then, reading for the sheer delight of it."
We learn from what we love.
How beautiful and true.
Slow down, Lowes repeats throughout the address 89 years ago. Don't get caught up in the madness, the over-energized push of a success-driven culture. Step away from all that and read. Read for the delight of it. Read to enrich your life. Read to enhance your life.
Remember to learn from what you love.
Thank you Sarah, for this treasure.For the book, the image of a loving couple reading together, and for the reminder to slow down and read for the pure joy of it.
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