The lady looked at me like I was a narwhal in a tuxedo. The exchange took place in a seafood restaurant while on a work trip in Orlando, Florida last week. There I was, enjoying a book (Less by Andrew Sean Greer if you must know) and waiting for my salmon and wild rice to arrive, when I spotted her.
“How can you read in here? It’s too damn loud,” she said. And then she looked perplexed and asked, “Honestly, how can you read at all?” She went on to tell me grand stories about how her brain is broken, how she can’t manage to find her car keys, pay the bills on time, or hold a decent conversation, let alone sit for thirty minutes and read a book. This was the point where I smiled.
“You’re not broken,” I said. Then we talked about how it takes a few weeks, but if you read every day, even for a few minutes, all that distraction and forgetfulness and chaotic squirrel chasing starts to ease up. When we choose to take control of our attention via books rather than give it away via the internet, something magical happens: our brains wake up.
Until tomorrow, read slowly – take notes – apply the ideas.
Eddy
