Yes, on the 7th I celebrated my 56th birthday, as much as anyone celebrates turning 56, I suppose. Actually, that's not true. While I hate it when people say that they're in a really good place, I also have to admit that I'm in a really good place right now. Family life is good, as is my health. Champlain is what Champlain is, but the college has always given me about as many opportunities as I've wanted to take. I received quite the collection of swag this year. In addition to the new Minnesota Vikings jersey I also received a long-anticipated Edmonton Eskimos t-shirt, which has left Andy Burkhardt quite jealous. I also received a box set of all seven volumes that make up Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. At a couple different times over the years I had owned the first two volumes, including picking up a used copy of Swann's Way (which I've been quoting from) a few months back. However, I've never owned the entire set, so this is very exciting.
The further I get into it I find myself slowing down and I think it is helping my perception. One of my many New Year's resolutions this year is to leave my phone off for most of every day - and to stay off Facebook as much as possible. In fact, I went ahead and deactivated my Facebook account, which I've done before. My goal is to leave the account deactivated for the rest of 2016, although who knows if I will end up following through. As much as I love having the phone - and I am quite the news junky and Twitter whore - I also sincerely believe that it has hurt my ability to concentrate. You can't skim Proust, and it has taken almost a physical effort to get myself in the right frame of mind, including the necessary pacing, to appreciate it. So, I'm enjoying the beauty of Proust's words and am captivated by his philosophical musings, but I can also feel myself engaging with the blow of the book more completely. Time regained, indeed.
The further I get into it I find myself slowing down and I think it is helping my perception. One of my many New Year's resolutions this year is to leave my phone off for most of every day - and to stay off Facebook as much as possible. In fact, I went ahead and deactivated my Facebook account, which I've done before. My goal is to leave the account deactivated for the rest of 2016, although who knows if I will end up following through. As much as I love having the phone - and I am quite the news junky and Twitter whore - I also sincerely believe that it has hurt my ability to concentrate. You can't skim Proust, and it has taken almost a physical effort to get myself in the right frame of mind, including the necessary pacing, to appreciate it. So, I'm enjoying the beauty of Proust's words and am captivated by his philosophical musings, but I can also feel myself engaging with the blow of the book more completely. Time regained, indeed.
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| Now there's nothing standing in my way of reading all of Proust, other than an extraordinary amount of free time. . . |
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