One Simple Thing

The simple thing that I do that brings joy to my life is reading. When life gets crazy I can always rely on a good book to take me away. I read everyday. I enjoy reading because it takes my mind and my imagination to different times, places and experiences. It’s my favorite past time. I can easily spend hours in a bookstore or library. When I’m interested in a particular subject I read read read all about it until I’ve had my fill. There have been times when I’m so engrossed in a book, it consumes me to the point that I feel incapacitated until I finish it. I’ve been known to read a book in a day. I like that about me. I remember precisely when I declared myself a reader. I was in fourth grade. We were doing the end of the year standardized testing. My teacher permitted us to choose a book from the bookshelf in the classroom when we were finished with our test each day. Because I was in fourth grade, I chose Takes of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. Each day I looked forward to returning to that book until I finished it. There was no turning back after that book. I knew I would be a lifelong reader. When I was a junior in high school I was being punished one weekend and not allowed to go out with my friends. I had just started reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger in my English class and I was enjoying it so I had no problem staying in my room. To this day I still laugh to myself that my parents gave me the wrong punishment. To punish me would have been to take the book away. The only time period in my life I didn’t read was when I was in college studying to become a nurse. There wasn’t enough time in a day or room in my head for anything else. After I graduated and passed my RN exam I returned to reading. For the past several years I’ve joined the yearly reading challenges on the Goodreads app. On Goodreads you can see what other people are reading and make lists of books you’ve read. I read the number of books per year that is equivalent to my age. I enjoy fiction, historical fiction, beach reads, autobiographies, daily devotionals, books about spirituality and Catholicism and most recently poetry. When I see a young child enjoying a book I’m excited that their lifetime of reading has junior begun. When I see someone reading a book in a public place, I’m happy for them. When someone tells me their love of reading began during their adulthood I’m proud of them. My favorite people to talk about books with are my patients. If I see a book amongst their possessions I ask them about it. It passes the time for them, distracts them from their troubles and I enjoy hearing about what people read. I could go on and on but my book is waiting. “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Stephen King

Author: jachristofersen8

Registered Nurse. Aspiring Writer. View all posts by jachristofersen8