Skip to main content

Libraries are Freakin Awesome


This is my library. Love it!!!!
I’m a book lover and have been since about the age of 11. I’m the type of person that people ask for book suggestions and give book suggestions to on a near daily basis. In my early twenties I was under the illusion that my book collection was a reflection of the type of person I was and how I wished to be perceived.  Basically I wanted to be considered EXTREMELY intelligent and well read and have my book shelves display the proof.

Now that I am a lot older (wiser?) and lean towards the minimal I’ve asked myself the question “How often have I read a book more than once?” The answer is not often.  So let me get this straight I’m hanging on to a shit tonne of books (costing an average of $15 each, often more) just so I can be perceived as intelligent. Ha ha ha ha…..the irony!

Now here is a smart idea. When someone gives me a rave book review or if its on my book club list I get on my library website and reserve it, taking a total 1 minute (do it on my phone). Then a couple of days/weeks later I get a text message telling me it is ready to pick up from my local. I go along with the kids who get a couple of dvds and books for themselves and pick up my reserves. 

So you might have guessed that I freakin love libraries. I can get just about any book, DVD, Blu Ray or CD that I wish and all it takes is a bit of patience. If my library doesn’t have what I want they get it from another library or they order a new copy. And I pay nothing for this service….NOTHING!

If you are not convinced of why libraries are awesome read on……

1. You have access to all of the books ever written for FREE! (ok maybe not all, but a lot!)

2. You have access to loads of cool movies and TV series for FREE!

3. Check out the school holiday programs (yes they are FREE) and your kids can learn to knit, make cool madhatters hats or go and see ‘Shaun the Sheep’ the movie (and other cool kids films) on the biggish screen.

4. Not having to deal with Analysis Paralysis. In other words the randomness of when your book/dvd/cd comes in means you don’t have to stand there trying to choose from hundreds of options. It’s doing the choosing for you.

5. If you don’t like the book you don’t have to keep reading it. So flipping liberating when you realise “I didn’t actually pay a cent for this boring book. So I can actually just stop reading immediately. Woo hoo!”

6. My kids will actually watch the DVDs we get from the library because they are borrowed and therefore more exciting. The few DVDs they own are apparently boring because they are ours. Hence why we are no longer accumulating any more children’s DVDs.

7. Let’s face it, everything in life is borrowed, we are taking nothing with us to the grave. Books are written to be read not accumulated!

8. Libraries are peaceful places to be and that’s enough reason for me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Simplest and Best Chicken Broth

INGREDIENTS 1 whole chicken (free range or organic preferred) 2 carrots, chopped 4 celery stalks, chopped 1 zucchini, chopped 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, chopped half a bunch of parsley, chopped 1 tbsp Sea Salt or Pink River Salt Pepper Olive oil METHOD Heat oil in a large saucepan and boil a full kettle. Sauté carrots, celery, zucchini, onion and garlic until lightly brown. Add chicken, parsley stalks and salt to the pan and lightly brown. Pour boiling water in the pan. When the saucepan begins to boil turn the heat down low and put lid on. Simmer for 2-3 hours then remove bones from the chicken. The best way to do this is by pulling the whole carcass out and putting in a large bowl. Then use tongs to take meat off the bone. If you want just broth then leave the chicken out and add the rest of your parsley. If you want to make chicken soup, add the chicken back to the broth. If you’re going the soup option you can add more veggies and ...

Rest, Me Time and Self-Care

With Mother’s Day just gone the topic of rest, me time and self-care are an important topic for us all to talk about. As Mother’s we are told how valuable and integral we are to our families. And that is completely true, however I think it has led us to believe that our families are unable to survive without us. Even for a couple of hours. And even though, on an intellectual level, we know that our families can survive without us temporarily, how is the guilt? Anyone not feeling it? Well I’m here to tell you that there is nothing, and I mean nothing that is more important than your health, especially your mental health! Rest, me time and self-care are absolutely essential for a Mum’s mental health.  In nearly 20 years working as a Naturopath there is one word that is perceived as particularly offensive. Rest. When a person (any person) is struggling physically or emotionally, often rest will be one of the prescriptions. If only I could take photos of people’s face...

Stress and Anxiety

I recently went through a time of acute anxiety which was confusing and very scary. The reason it was confusing was because I had no real reason to be anxious, however it was there and it was very real. My heart would start to race and I’d become extremely anxious about something quite trivial, to the point of tears at times. After a few days of feeling sorry for myself and struggling on I thankfully had one logical thought “I’m going to try as many things that I know help with stress and anxiety and see how I go”. It literally came down to making a list of things that are proven to reduce stress and anxiety. And because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only who suffers from stress or anxiety I’m going to share that list here. Meditation, Breathing and Mindfulness Whether you refer to it as meditation or mindfulness, focusing on the breath for as little as 10 minutes a day can help calm the body drastically. Meditation, mindfulness and other breathing techniques have been prov...