writing what we wonder about

 

It isn't unusual for me to have two or three books open at the same time. Right now, I'm switching between these three books:

This book delves into the physiological correlates of emotional and psychological states as orchestrated by the autonomic nervous system. This is especially important when we treat victims of childhood trauma whose symptoms follow them into adulthood. For health care providers, the concepts are not especially difficult, but because the author is the academic researcher who first described the polyvagal theory, his language is fairly lofty and dense, so it is a little hard to follow. At least, it is for me...which is why I took a break from it and treated myself to this book by Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way among many other books...all of which I have read at one time or another over the years.

This is light reading. It's inspiring. Encouraging. I keep it at my bedside for a little comfort before I nod off at night.

And then, there's this one:

I was invited to a friend's home for dinner a couple of weeks ago when a total stranger suggested this book to me. Don't ask how dinner conversation got around to human perception and the illusive nature of reality, but it did. The author of this book is a theoretical physicist and one of the founders of the loop quantum gravity theory, about which I know nothing. Yet. He invites the reader to imagine a vast, mysterious, and still largely undiscovered universe and to contemplate its essential nature. Which is beyond awe-inspiring. Beyond belief. Beyond the imagination.

The point is this:

"If you want to be a writer,

you must do two things above all others:

read a lot and write a lot."

~Stephen King~

Read for enjoyment. Read to learn. Read for inspiration. Read to raise new questions. Keep reading until you find the answers...because:

"The more you know,

the more you know you don't know."

~Aristotle~

Reading is the sure path to knowledge. To wonder, awe, and amazement. To laughter. To tears. What you read can raise your ire or allay your deepest fears. It can challenge your beliefs or validate them. 

"Reading gives you the ability

to think in as many dimensions as you want."

~Nitin Namdeo~

The scary thing is the fact that the topics or genres you enjoy reading about may ultimately be what you write about. If you don't write about it, your narrative will be lost to the rest of us. What have you learned? What enchants you? What scares you? How do you experience the world we share? 

If you don't like to read, chances are you simply haven't found the right book yet. If you can't find time for reading, chances are you won't find time to write. What a shame! It will all be lost.

"We don't write what we know.

We write what we wonder about."

~Richard Peck~

jan