For The Love of Books

Books are magic wands, waving us into worlds that beckon us to enter with delight. They were my companions from earliest childhood when I toted them around like teddy bears. My parents read to my sister and me and when I was old enough, we would alternate reading pages; they one and me the next. At bedtime, I then read to them and eventually on my own. Books accompanied me into the bathroom that my father referred to as ‘the library,’ since that was one of his favorite reading spaces too. Dr. Seuss and Little Golden Books were joined by Highlights Magazine. My parents made sure we were well educated both inside the classroom and out. Weekly visits to the library up the street where we would sit on the floor, listening with rapt attention to the ‘library lady,’ I called her, for Story Hour. I remember meandering the aisles and finding just the right treasures to take home, read, and then a week later, return and gather more. When the bookmobile came to our elementary school, My mother placed $10 (if memory serves) in an envelope to trade for paperback gold from the shelves. That amount of money went a lot further back in the 1960s. To this day, libraries and bookstores are places of awe and wonder and I enjoy exploring the creations of the courageous authors who dare to bare their souls in black and white. As a published author and journalist, I am intimately familiar with that process and what it takes to put fingers to the keyboard and spill my guts.

Albert Rios, poet laureate of Arizona penned an awesomely accurate piece called Don’t Go Into The Library, in which he cautions,

“The library is dangerous—
Don’t go in. If you do

You know what will happen.
It’s like a pet store or a bakery—

Every single time you’ll come out of there
Holding something in your arms……”

As I look around my house, I see books in nearly every room, filling shelves and my nightstand. I have more books than any other type of item. Some are from my youth and some, newly adopted. Some read for professional edification, some for pleasure. My favorites include:

Illusions by Richard Bach
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle
2150 AD by Thea Alexander
The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You by Dorothy Bryant
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
oh, and I have a special place in my heart for my own book called The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary.

No surprise that they are all of a spiritual/metaphysical bent.

These days, I read books for review and the authors have sent them via pdf. Although it is a more expeditious way to receive it, there is something special about holding the book, feeling the weight of it in my hands, turning the pages and sniffing the aroma.

I have passed my love of reading to my grandson since it seems to have skipped a generation. Although I read to my son; his favorite book was The Cat in the Hat, he is not an avid reader now. I suspect that he liked the classic because the kids put one over on the mom. These days, books are a huge part of 2-year-old Dean’s life. Before he was born, my son and daughter-in-law asked for them as shower gifts…was he ever showered with books! Only a few were duplicates, which is actually a good thing since he has drooled on, chewed on, and ripped some of them. He sleeps with soft books in his crib, and like his grandmother, carries them around. He turns pages, points, and does what I call ‘Dean-speak’. He makes animal sounds as he points to the critters in the books. One of his favorites is Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems and he proudly snorts and trumpets along. I am proud that he owns a banned book. When it first came out, I made sure he had a copy of Anti-Racist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi. Although he doesn’t understand the concept, he pats the babies on the pages and giggles. Our intention for him is that he be anti-racist. Other books that encourage creativity and diversity join the classic, yes, including The Cat in the Hat own spaces on the bookshelves in various rooms in their home.

Because I fell in love with reading at an early age, I expanded my horizons and embraced writing. Encouraged by my parents and my 6th-grade teacher, Rich Serfling, I took to writing like a baby to bubbles (my grandson loves blowing bubbles, by the way). Short stories, blog posts, life observations, interviews, and socio-political commentary are my favorite genres. Everything is a writing prompt. What I witness in daily life, what I hear on NPR, comments that people make, messages that come through in dreams or meditation or in the shower, as well as songs I listen to, movies and tv shows I view, what I watch on YouTube and TED Talks are fodder for my writing. I rarely get writer’s block, calling it ‘writer’s runs,’ which sometimes renders me helpless to know where to put the final period.

Creativity isn’t merely the ability to produce an item such as a painting or a book. We’re each the canvas on which we daily recreate

ourselves. Creativity can be honed with practice and encouragement, but deep down you need to thoroughly love what you do. Find joy in the creative process, not merely the finished product, by experimenting with what lights you up. Explore with all of your senses awake and aware. That is your artistry.

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