Sometimes we are all faced with surprises and unexpected complications that mean that we have to put aside our work, hobbies and daily routine. For me, reading has always been one of the most essential parts of my day and I had become used to reading on my commute to work and at home every evening. Unfortunately a recent series of events in my life rattled my routine and I found myself thrown into a completely different world where I no longer found joy in reading so decided to take a short break from one of my biggest passions.
During this period, I discovered several things about myself as a reader and the necessity to stop, reflect and take a break that I wanted to share with you. My first thought was that, strangely enough, although reading used to be a key part of my day beforehand, I no longer missed it. My mind was occupied with everything else going on around me and I didn’t feel the need to pick up my kindle even though it was always inside my bag next to me.
Another revelation that soon came to me as my mind started to clear up with all the unease was that I started reflecting on some of the books that I had recently read. Thoughts of the setting, characters along with how I plan to structure my reviews made me realise that I would hopefully soon return to my previous self and desire to pick up a book again.
Finally, I found the urge to start a new book when I was discussing No Way Out, the new book in Cara Hunter’s DI Fawley series, with my mum who was raving about how brilliant it is. I had already downloaded the book a few weeks ago but didn’t feel like reading it up until this point. It was almost like a eureka moment and that evening I devoured half the book in one sitting and finished the rest of it over the next day. (To those that haven’t yet read No Way Out, I highly recommend it!)
During this experience I realised that there are times in life where we are forced to put aside our pastimes or even times where we no longer find pleasure in the things we used to enjoy, and that is perfectly fine. I also now understand that the smallest nudge in the right direction like sharing views with a loved one on a favourite author is sufficient. Sometimes we need a break in order to focus on other more important situations or just to look at things from another perspective. I soon found my desire to read again and have decided to view this experience as a learning curve rather than a fallback.
Have you ever taken a break from reading and if so, how did you find it?
