Started and Unfinished: “The Letters of Henry James and Edith Wharton” (Heavy on the James, light on the Wharton) “Defend the Realm: An Authorized History of MI5”. If you suffer from insomnia this is the page turner for you.
I was an English major in college, and I remember one semester I signed up for a Henry James seminar that met once a week for three hours. I went to class one day and promptly dropped the class. What was I thinking even signing up...
I mean life is full of non-completion, right? So calling it a spiritual practice is kinda like writing something down that you already did on your to-do list, just so you can cross it off ;-)
So good - someone once offered me the option of not finishing books a couple years ago, and my achiever heart gasped in horror. I slowly let the idea creep back in and found so much freedom in knowing that maybe that book wasn’t for that season and I’ll pick it up again later or maybe I actually got out of it everything I needed to and it’s time for something else.
Now if only GoodReads would have an option for “finished the book at ___%” 🫠
Wow, what a lovely shout out! Also, I do not finish all sorts of things. Thanks for a reflection that is very compassionate to my neuro-spicy brain! ❤️
Started and Unfinished: “The Letters of Henry James and Edith Wharton” (Heavy on the James, light on the Wharton) “Defend the Realm: An Authorized History of MI5”. If you suffer from insomnia this is the page turner for you.
I was an English major in college, and I remember one semester I signed up for a Henry James seminar that met once a week for three hours. I went to class one day and promptly dropped the class. What was I thinking even signing up...
I love this idea of not finishing, at least some things. I heard the Pod Save America but….but never thought of it as a spiritual practice. Thank you.
I mean life is full of non-completion, right? So calling it a spiritual practice is kinda like writing something down that you already did on your to-do list, just so you can cross it off ;-)
So good - someone once offered me the option of not finishing books a couple years ago, and my achiever heart gasped in horror. I slowly let the idea creep back in and found so much freedom in knowing that maybe that book wasn’t for that season and I’ll pick it up again later or maybe I actually got out of it everything I needed to and it’s time for something else.
Now if only GoodReads would have an option for “finished the book at ___%” 🫠
Yes, I'd love that feature!
Wow, what a lovely shout out! Also, I do not finish all sorts of things. Thanks for a reflection that is very compassionate to my neuro-spicy brain! ❤️
Keep up the good reading and writing... and non-completing :-)