In Bonnie news, it appears I will be turning 40 at the end of this month. A few friends asked about some sort of party, but I actually don’t particularly like a confluence in my honor. Don’t get me wrong, I do host a lot of get togethers, and I think they serve an important function communally. The purpose, in my view, of so many informal dinner parties, grilled cheese nights, pizza nights, snacky park play dates and open house potluck’s are so that folks can meet each other. A recurring gathering of rotating friends is like sewing over the same seams, making them stronger and more bound up in each other. I love watching people pairing off and connecting while I fire pizzas or grill sandwiches for piles of kids and make sure everyone has a drink, but I often can’t help feeling that a night will pass without me getting to the magic of deeper conversation. It’s an beloved position and I’ll do it everyday of the year, but on my birthday, I want something more.
I spent the day thinking on what I truly value and maybe a bit about who or what I am (excuse my navel-gazing a moment). I think one of my favorite things is a one on one conversation about a book. More than any other piece of media, a book creates an extended shared reality in a different way. Sure the authors words are there, but the space between the writing and the self creates a new place. An opening, a portal, a shared consciousness. Over the languid hours of reading our nervous systems can rest. Our thoughts can meander. Reading for pleasure can be a hard sell in a world of efficiency, but I entreat you, in this mid year moment of oppressive heat, to find time to siesta with a book in a darkened room to the gentle whirr of the ceiling fan.
SO! Here’s my request, if you’re game. As a birthday present to me and you that we can share, will you read a book with me during the month of July? It’s a very informal book club for my birthday month. I’m reading Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit It’s free to listen to on Spotify, or you can request it from Bookish our local bookstore. It’s a book that forays through so many aspects of life and with such a far reaching scope, I think it could appeal to any person who gardens, writes, thinks, works, and is possibly wondering about the value of pleasure, beauty, art and joy in “times like these”.
Will you read this one book with me for the month of July? If so that would be enough. For extra credit, by July 28th will you email me, text me, stop by the bakery during open hours on a Thursday, catch me at Penny University for a coffee, or at Intermission for a drink, and talk to me about all your thoughts about the book we just read? I would love to hear all about it.
I’ll send you off with one of my favorite songs to listen to while you acquire your book or audio book for this community thought experiment….
Think a little about that, and I’ll see you soon.