Thursday, July 08, 2010

thing I'm trying to think I might do

I read a line recently that may have been about food, but I feel it contains a truth that I'd like to incorporate more fully into my life in general.  It just seems like a great way to go about living.

The line is near the end of the following paragraph which I borrowed from a blog post by David Lebovitz.  If you don't read his blog you should.  He talks about cooking and eating and traveling, and he's an American living in France.  Some of his more amusing posts are about dealing with the French mentality from an American point of view.  Read the post HERE and the excerpt below.
One thing I've learned about traveling is that you should just enjoy what you have right then and there, and not worry about buying more, stocking up, bringing some home, or whatever. Just eat it there. As my friend Susan Loomis says, "You don't need to own it, just enjoy it." And I agree.
We often want to own, and I'm reminded of a story I heard on NPR recently that included an interview of a book collecter.  He was discussing a book he wanted and was asked about his collection at which point he mentioned that he wasn't much of a reader but loved to own books.

I was astouonded.  I too love to own books, and many of the ones I own are books I've read and loved.  Others are books I will read at some point.  I don't understand owning a book that I haven't read, don't plan to read or read and didn't enjoy.  I'm sure I actually have books that fall into any one or all of those categories, so maybe I shouldn't talk, but then that's what I do.

You don't need to own it, just enjoy it.  Of the many things I've heard/read, that's one I want to embrace and to implement more fully.  I'm not against owning, but maybe sometimes just to not care and to let myself enjoy is more important.

I do enjoy books, by the way.  I love old books, and one of my pleasures is to bury my nose in an old book and breathe in that old book smell.  Hell, I might just go and smell some books right now.

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