Read more

One goal for the year is to read more books. Reasons are plentiful:

  • Spend less time looking at a screen
  • Use the new study / library nook (which gets lovely sunlight)
  • Learn new things / Understand different viewpoints
  • Exercise focus

The first book for 2022 is 10% Happier by Dan Harris—a loaner from Tom. He said it was a good introduction to meditation for the hesitant or skeptical.

The author, a broadcast journalist, spends years trying to understand how to tame his inner voice that often caused anxiety, strife and some bad decisions.

This leads him down a path toward meditation and a realization that it wasn’t a panacea, but simply an exercise that had the potential to make one’s life 10% happier. Just by lowering the bar of expectation it’s easier to engage the possibility.

Understanding meditation has been a personal goal for many years. I’ve eschewed classes, half-heartedly tried mobile apps and even started a few books yet never to get more than a few chapters deep. I somehow made it through this one, dog-eared a bunch of pages to revisit and started meditating in short bouts after closing the cover.

Is it going to stick? I have no idea, but I can imagine the possibility! And that’s a good place to be.