In life we tend to live day to day and not give a whole lot of thought to things that once brought us real joy. I’m not talking about the big things mind you. Sure it’s easy to gloss over the occasional the best friend’s birthday, your last promotion at work but, it’s the smallest of gestures that people tend to make the biggest deals over. Try to think back to a time when a friend or a loved one offered you something out of the blue. Maybe it was a sweater you always secretly loved? Maybe it was a set of golf clubs you always fancied but would never ask for from your neighbor? The moment the items came into your life “spontaneously” almost always creates a circumstance of stupendous glee. The element of surprise, the shock of “really?” for me? These brief interactions go a long way to solidify our collective need for social exchanges on a much deeper level. Selfless acts can often be just brought about on a whim, other times they might be meticulously planned “today I’m gonna clean out the garage and donate to the shelter instead of throwing everything out in to the trash” But, when the item or items come from someone close to you it usually takes on a very different feeling all together.
Many years ago I would often spend countless hours at the local library. The vast array of books, magazines and yes LP’s back then was more often than not one step away from overwhelming. I, like many others probably took for granted the opportunity to access such knowledge while reaping the benefits all via a sort of honor system. To “borrow” a book as it were, was always intriguing to me. I would stand in awe in the middle of an aisle contemplating my next read. You’re just gonna let me leave here with this glorious work of fiction/non fiction and enjoy it for two weeks(maybe it was longer back then/ I can’t really recall) as I would dutifully bring it back so that others may partake of the same experience?! It would always leave me feeling good about my surroundings. No matter the chaos in my life I always knew there was place of virtual solitude/quiet and refreshing ideas where I could hit the proverbial reset button. I have been fortunate enough to have visited libraries from Washington DC to California, Ive seen the inside of the Library Of Trinity College in Ireland. No matter the ambience the result is always the same: “marvelous” Books, are in fact the one item very few humans will ever NOT encounter. They make us laugh, cry, angry, sad and most importantly a lil better off than we were before turning to that first page.
I say ALL this to say while I know not everyone has a set of builtins housing their favorite works. Most everyone probably has at least one book they read that left them as the kids say “in their feels”. Books touch all our lives in different ways, and books despite our advancing technological feats aren’t going away anytime soon. So think back to a time when you found yourself engrossed with an actual book that much like today’s binge watching that crime documentary, you couldn’t wait to get to the next chapter! Maybe hitting up a library isn’t on next weeks to do list (maybe it should be?) But asking a friend to borrow that copy of Julia Childs memoirs or Tay Tays Eras tour Volume one could put you on the path to a journey that would make The Boston Public Library (circa 1848) proud!
Santangelo Says 