Yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit a bookstore. Visiting the store brought back many happy memories for me for I like to read. Even with my Kindle and audiobooks, there is a certain affection I have for bookshelves filled with books long before the internet arrived.
Searching for a book to gift to a high school graduate, led me to explore other books selfishly for myself. I ended up buying three other books for me to read. Without knowing at the time that I would finish one book in about five hours this same day.
It was a book titled ” The Bullet Journal Method”. The book described a way to organize your life using a bound paper journal. By day as well as by topic. Expecting to learn about the process was a given. My interest is born out of my continued struggle to organize myself for greater clarity of purpose fused together with more effective actions.
Surprisingly the book was filled with so much more. There was a lot of philosophy shared in the book about life, meaning, intentionality, and many other subjects. When I read, I like to take notes in a journal of things that I find quite insightful. Here are a few that I wrote down from the book and its author Ryder Carroll:
“Our curiosity is the exciting electricity we feel in the presence of potential. It sparks our imagination & wonder, drawing us out of ourselves and into the world.”
“Change is critical to productivity and growth.”
“Be mindful about the people you surround yourself with, because they will shape you.”
“Good communication bridges the gap between information and understanding.”
“No matter what happens in your life, no matter how bad things get, you’re never entirely at the mercy of your experience.”
I don’t know yet if I will adopt the Bullet Journal process in my life. The feeling of joy in finding so many more insights kept me from putting down the book. Internalizing them in my own way, within the context of my own life.
Reading can provide great joy. Taking us in new directions and expanding our possibilities. Sadly, our busy lives and digital distractions keep us from making reading a consistent habit. One where the skill to read improves simply through practice and repetition. The more you read, the faster you read. The more you read, the easier it is to comprehend different ideas.
No matter your age, the type of book you choose to read, or your proficiency with reading. There is always something to learn from a book. For they are never part of our daily life while making us more aware of how large the world is around us that we know little about.