Reading hiatus . . . DAY THREE

I have decided that NOT reading isn't for me. But one of the alleged benefits in doing no reading for a week was that I would "run out of work and be forced to play."

Well, what if my work IS my play?

Or, if work is really my work, then maybe my "play" is reading? But I'm not allowed to read!

Do you see the conundrum?

The REAL message, for me, is balance.

Walk. Read. Shoot. Relax. Paint. Make physical collages. Make photomontages. Walk some more. Go off by myself every week. Limit computer time. And take a walk. Oh, and sleep at least six hours a night (instead of three to four hours, which is literally killing me).

So, as I posted previously, I know that I CAN follow the no-reading exercise. But it just feels WRONG. Reading is highly pleasurable for me. Always has been. To give it up increases my stress levels (never good).

If the lesson is balance, then lesson learned.

So what shall I do today? Well, maybe I'll go to the aquarium, walk around Nye Beach, have a grilled salmon sandwich, go to the Yaquina Art Center, and then GO TO THE LIBRARY!

Ahhh! I feel lighter and happier already!

©Carol Leigh

Reading hiatus . . . DAY TWO

I'm not sure I want to do this any more. Notice I didn't say I "can't" do this any more. I could stick this out, purposely not reading every day for a week. But for me, I'm not sure I need this "no reading" exercise to realize I simply need more balance in my life.

Not reading has shown me how much time I spend reading other people's blogs and their Facebook posts. At least I don't think I'm reading crap (she said defensively). I'm not reading about Kardashians or new video games or reality shows. My blog reading is confined to art blogs, life improvement blogs, inspirational material, etc.

Not reading has encouraged me to watch more television. This is bad. My TV-watching has always been limited to a half-hour art show at noon on OPB, maybe a cooking show after that, and then maybe part of a basketball game or "Jeopardy" at night. But now, because I'm not reading, I'm tending to spend more time on the couch, watching TV, when I would really RATHER be reading!

I AM getting more collage work done. I'm making a book (I think) and can work on it for about 30 minutes before my neck gives out. So yeah, I'm doing more physical art because I'm not reading.

Bottom line, what this means is that, this evening, I'm thinking about simply restructuring my life to include reading, physical collage art, photography, photomontage-making, and exercising. What's different? Well, more reading = less TV. Setting a time limit on reading = more time making physical collages. Setting a time limit on physical collage = a herniating disk I can live with.

I'm going to let this simmer overnight, but my gut feeling is that this exercise isn't for me. If not reading is designed to give me a "jump start" on my art, I don't need it. I always have dips and slumps, but I never stop creating. I never stop shooting. Never stop looking at other work for inspiration, never stop experimenting.

Chris tells me the Lakers are playing the Spurs right now (oh, yeah, like THAT'S going to be an exciting matchup), but it's time to push away from the computer, and to read or not to read . . . that's the question.

©Carol Leigh

Reading hiatus . . . DAY ONE

Well, after posting about purposely not reading for a week, I began yesterday.

As of 1:30 p.m. I went on a reading hiatus. No reading books, e-mails, letters, blogs, Facebook, art books, magazines, etc.

I am reachable by phone. And I am reachable if you put the word URGENT in your e-mail header. (I check e-mail headers, and unless you're one of my weird relatives, my neighbor across the street, or Fine Art America saying I've made another sale, the e-mail is set aside until the end of this project.)

So what will I be doing instead of reading? I'll be reporting about it. After all, it's a READING hiatus, not a WRITING hiatus!

So here's my first report, not even 100% into my first official day of not reading . . .

Here's where it gets tricky. I'm working on a collage. I'm rummaging through papers and I find an old check dated October 19, 1878. (Thank you, CJ.) It's for $100, made payable to Moss, Reynolds & Co., on a check from the Bank of La Porte, California.

My first inclination is to go online and research La Porte, California and Moss, Reynolds & Co. But NO! I'm on a reading hiatus! Just 2.5 hours into a reading hiatus! Heavy sigh.

So what did I do with the rest of the day? I did a bit of tidying and collage work in the art studio. I put away a few pieces of camera gear in the photo studio. (Doesn't it sound grand saying "art studio" and "photo studio?" Well, they ain't grand! Those of you who have been here know how tiny those two little places are. But they're MY places, and that's what counts.)

It was a sunny warm day so Chris and I were out on the front balcony late in the afternoon, having a "beverage of choice," just sitting and talking. Now here is where I would have had a book to read. But nope, that's not the deal. So I brought out a book of collage photographs, called Collage Masters. Unlike Playboy magazine, where you read it for the articles, not the pictures, this was definitely for the pictures!

Then I (sigh) watched TV. Charlie Rose was good. But watching a spoiled brat try to choose a condo to buy in Hawaii? "Eeeuwww. It doesn't have my granite countertops. It doesn't have the gas stove I want. And this carpet just HAS to go." Such a sense of entitlement and such a lack of perspective got to me, so, click, over to a Trailblazers basketball game. Watched maybe 15 minutes and I was done. Have you heard "Mike and Mike?" The Trailblazers announcers? I wish they would announce my LIFE, because apparently their team can do no wrong. It's embarrassing.

I sketched a bit. I watercolored a bit. I looked at inspirational art on Pinterest. And that was basically my day.

NOT READING IS NOT EASY. Especially if you're a habitual reader. And today another day begins. Wish me luck.

Carol Leigh

A reading moratorium . . .

Well, isn’t this interesting? The next section (on page 87) in The Artist’s Way is about not reading for a week. “If you feel stuck in your life or in your art, few jump starts are more effective than a week of reading deprivation.” That’s what I was reading this morning.

Fast-forward to this evening when I pick up the book World Enough & Time, where I’m at page 139, with a chapter header: “The Joy of Reading.” The author relates her love of books, that they provide "joy and connection and escape.”

I’ve always had at least two books going, often four. But I’ve never had one book tell me to stop reading the others!

What to do, oh, what to do?

Well, I am going to go on a reading hiatus, just not today. But doesn’t it sound interesting? No reading newspapers, online news, blogs, Facebook, no e-mail, no magazines, no crossword puzzles, etc. BUT NO BOOKS?! (Fanning face.) That’s the hardest.

I’ll let you know when I begin. And I’ll let you know how it goes . . . After all, the rules say don't read. They don't say anything about writing . . .

©Carol Leigh