My sister Ruth set me a challenge today when we were talking on Facetime. She has challenged me to not read any sort of business or self-help book for the next 30 days. She wanted me to do it for 90 days but that seemed a little excessive to me, so I have agreed to 30 days with a re-evaluation at the end of it. She thinks that all the information I'm putting in my brain is exhausting me and I just need to let my brain rest and stop filling it up with other people's opinions about what is important or what you "should" do.
I am going to accept the challenge because I like a good challenge and also I wonder if it might help. I'm still allowed to read, but I can only read poetry, and novels or fun books, not anything that's going to give me advice aside from the Bible which she did concede, as that's important to me although you could argue it's the best self-help book out there.
I have to admit the thought of doing this challenge is filling me with a mild anxiety, which I guess proves that I'm kind of addicted to reading this kind of stuff. I actually feel more anxious about not being able to read (or listen to) books and podcasts like this, than I would if you told me I couldn't eat chocolate or drink coffee for a month. Now it's making me wonder why I feel the need to consume so many books and what I hope to accomplish by reading them all.
I know loads of my blog posts have been about books I'm reading so that will be interesting. I wonder if I'll have anything to say and if it will actually be more or less interesting without the added value of some productivity guru. I'm allowed to use a quote too but ideally not a self-helpy type quote (I'm not promising on this one). She suggested it be a quote from family or friends rather than one I get from a book, but as the quotes sent by my family are often bizarre and not always shareable, I may still look up a quote or two without reading the book that goes along with them.
This will set my reading list back by 30 days but I think it will be an interesting experiment to see if it will affect my brain and help me slow down and have less stuff yammering around constantly in my head. I do consume a lot of words every day but some of them have literally changed my life for the better and I feel a little panicky that I might miss some wisdom or insight by doing this, which I know is totally ridiculous but that's the feeling that comes up inside as I contemplate it.
So starting tomorrow, 25 September, for 30 days I will have a self-help, productivity fast and see where I end up. I am only allowed to look up actual technical help stuff to get my website working. My brother incredulously asked, "how are you going to write about anything interesting?" So I guess we'll see if the only interesting stuff that comes out of my head is a product of someone else or perhaps I'll be so full of poetry and prose I'll spew forth creative genius instead.
My quote for today is “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”―Sydney J. Harris
My photo for today is of me and my fabulous siblings, all messaging together as today is my brother's birthday. Happy birthday Phil, thanks for being the best big brother!
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